


Pokemon: Secret Journeys

by TigerLover16



Category: Digimon Adventure, Disney Duck Universe, Godzilla - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Crossover, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 192,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27407626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLover16/pseuds/TigerLover16
Summary: An interdimensional being called The Beyonder has taken over the World of Pokemon, altering it to suit his whims. So naturally, it's up to Ash Ketchum to do something about that.Sent back in time on a quest to redo his journey in this radically altered world, Ash and friends are in for their greatest, most dangerous adventure of all. Pokeshipping. Morpheusshipping.
Relationships: Aoi | Angie/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Kasumi | Misty/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Comments: 9
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue: It came from Beyone

**Author's Note:**

> So, hey. This is my first time posting a story to this site, so forgive me if the formatting comes out a bit... wrong. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here.
> 
> This story's also available on Fanfiction.net, so if this comes out an unreadable mess you can easily read it there instead

In the vast, ever expanding depths of the multiverse, there exists an uncountable number of worlds, home to many different forms of life.

There were worlds where human civilizations had advanced to the point where space travel was a common occurrence, poverty, climate change and all social ills had been eliminated and what people from other universes would consider advanced robotics and machinery that should only exist in fiction were a mundane, ever present occurrence in every household. And there were also worlds where animal life never left the ocean, and their planets remained a great untamed wilderness

There were worlds where people dressed up in colourful costumes and fought crime with a wide array of amazing powers, dubbing themselves superheroes. There were worlds where humans didn't exist and the dominant life was instead talking, anthropomorphic animals, and also there were worlds where similar beings and humans lived alongside one another.

Each universe had many worlds full of wondrous sights to behold. But none more so, perhaps, than one marvelous blue sphere in a universe at the farthest reaches of this great multiverse.

A world of both grand magic and advanced science. A world of stunning beauty and endless mysteries. A world where humans lived alongside a wide variety of amazing creatures in many different shapes and forms, from those that resembled animals, to living objects, to actual ghosts.

This was the world of Pokemon.

From the common pests like Rattata, to towering behemoths with the powers of Gods like Palkia and Groudon, Pokemon came in many different forms. They were found in every forest, in every mountain and ocean, in pretty much every corner of the world, living alongside and together with human beings in harmony for countless generations.

Some kept Pokemon as pets, others as workers or support Pokemon. But by far the most commonly witnessed bond in the para-social relationship between humans and Pokemon was the phenomenon where humans commanded whole teams of Pokemon to do battle against others as a form of sport.

People in this position where called Pokemon Trainers, and pitted their Pokemon against one another in a variety of different events, from annual League Tournaments designed to determine the strongest trainers in every region, to the elegant Pokemon Contests, or in less battle orientated events like Showcases and the Pokeathlon.

There had been many great and accomplished trainers throughout the history of this world, and the present day was home to some of the finest examples. Including one particular young man who the story you're all about to experience revolves around. A boy that has travelled across the land on a grand quest to be the greatest of all Pokemon Trainers.

That boy's name is Ash Ketchum.

Hailing from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, Ash set off on his journey shortly after turning ten years old. Partnered with a small yellow mouse Pokemon with the power to generate electricity called Pikachu, gifted to him by his mentor the esteemed Professor Oak, Ash aimed to become a Pokemon Master.

Together, Ash and Pikachu travelled through many different corners of the Pokemon World. Ash caught dozens of Pokemon, travelled and parted ways with many great and loyal friends, and fought many fearsome rivals and heinous villains. They met hundreds of different Pokemon and helped to improve the lives of nearly every good person they came into contact with, even saving the world a couple dozen times.

Throughout his journey that had now lasted for nearly seven years, Ash frequently challenged the Pokemon leagues of many regions, starting in his home region of Kanto and gradually making his way through the leagues of Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos.

Though he won none of those tournaments, Ash put on a good show and kept powering through, growing stronger and rising in the rankings, as well as succeeding at various other endeavors such as dethroning the undefeated Champion of the Orange Islands and conquering the Battle Frontier, until finally his efforts paid off and he became the first ever Champion of the recently established Alola Pokemon League.

With that huge accomplishment under his belt, Ash and Pikachu now have their sights set on the Pokemon World Championships, where they aim to challenge Leon, recently crowned the strongest trainer in the world.

As they rise through the ranks of the World Championships, Ash and Pikachu now mainly reside at the Cerise Laboratory in Vermilion City, working under a scientist who studies Pokemon named Professor Cerise.

Alongside a fellow research assistant, a young man named Goh who aims to capture every kind of Pokemon to work towards capturing the legendary Pokemon Mew, Ash helps the Professor to study Pokemon, often being deployed with Goh to go on trips through the many regions of the Pokemon World. Including Leon's home region of Galar, where recently the two helped save the region from a great disaster unwittingly set off by a man named Chairman Rose involving the Legendary Pokemon Eternatus.

It's safe to say that for all the ups and downs of his journey, Ash Ketchum loved his life and was grateful for all that he had accomplished, and all the friends he made along the way. Every day he looked to the future with a determined smile on his face, ready to meet any challenge the world still had to offer him on his path to being a Pokemon Master.

Little did he realize though, that his greatest challenge would come from a place beyond the world of Pokemon... and when it arrived, Ash and Pikachu's lives, and indeed the entire world they had come to know and love, would never be the same again...

* * *

**_*Vermilion City*_ **

Originally a small port town in the distant past, modern day Vermilion City was practically the heart of the Kanto region.

The city of Sunsets was very modern in its architecture, but at the same time was in tune with nature, with rows of trees, grass or wild flowers found on practically every corner, even in the most busy and metropolitan areas of the now quite large and populous city.

Being a port town in addition to having an airport, Vermilion City was Where most tourists and traveling trainers visiting Kanto from foreign lands arrived into the region, and was a popular tourist destination unto itself due to it's general aesthetic and atmosphere being a perfect blend of excitingly modern and advanced, yet at the same time charmingly rural and clean.

The residents of Vermilion City took great pride in this image, and worked hard to keep the city free of pollution. It was often voted as one of the best places to live in Kanto for this reason, as well as the fact there always seemed to be something interesting going on.

Like for example, there seemed to be a battle festival taking place in one of the City's largest parks today, as one particular tourist discovered by happenstance when strolling through the city center.

Apparently it was one of those big meet up events that attracted trainers competing in the Pokemon World Championships. Every region did something of the like at least once a month, as it could be difficult for a lot of trainers to travel around enough to track down enough opponents to satisfyingly rise through the rankings when there were many thousands of people competing in the PWC from all over the world.

Vermilion being the gathering hub for tourists it was, the event they were holding had attracted a great number of foreign trainers, so there were a good number of Pokemon battles taking place across Vermilion park featuring Pokemon you rarely saw in the Kanto region, much to the excitement of all the regular citizens crowding around the many improv battle sites.

The Sinnoh native who had stumbled into the event was revelling in the thrill of it all.

She was a teenage girl with mossy bluish-green hair, dressed in a bright green shirt and jeans that were a slightly darker shade of green. There was very little about her physical appearance that would be considered traditionally feminine, which coupled with her spunky and tomboyish attitude often caused people to mistake her for a boy, much to her irritation.

The girl from Sinnoh had arrived in the Kanto Region for a family trip to meet with the girl's favourite aunt, a woman who ran a daycare service on a farm South of Cerulean City, about two weeks ago now. The girl's father had booked them a two day stay in a hotel in Vermilion for before they headed back home, having never really taken the time to actually explore much of the city on past trips to Kanto. Her father was currently at some bar catching up with an old friend of his that happened to be on vacation too, leaving the girl to wander about for herself.

She hadn't been particularly enthusiastic about the idea at first, preferring to hang out more at the ranch with her aunt before returning to her immediate family's own Daycare service back home in Solaceon Town, but she was hardly bemoaning her circumstances right now.

There was a fiery blaze of excitement in the girl's amber eyes as she rushed between battle sights, fist pumping the air and joining the roaring crowds in cheering on the many intense battles between veteran trainers and their Pokemon, screaming wildly whenever a trainer she liked the looks of won and booing even louder when one of her guys lost.

The girl would have killed for a chance to take a shot at some of the toughest looking trainers commanding Pokemon like Dragonair and Walrein and a strangely coloured Weavile. But unfortunately, she wasn't registered for the Pokemon World Championships. She worked alongside her parents at their Daycare Services back home pretty much full time and simply wouldn't be able to compete in a region-spanning competition like that, much as she'd really like to.

There were a couple of rookie trainers about willing to challenge her, but none of them were really able to give the girl's Luxio much trouble.

After about an hour it was starting to feel like she had seen every trainer battle at least once, and the crowds were starting to disperse as all of the Ultra Class trainers and most of the normal class ones took off for the nearest Pokemon Center. The girl thought about leaving herself, but decided to grab a corn dog first.

She was two steps away from the stand when she noticed a blue circle of energy rise into the air nearby, past a large fountain. That got the girl to scratch her chin thoughtfully. She recognized that attack immediately as a wayward aura sphere, she was intimately familiar with the move because a Togekiss currently staying at Aunt Winry's daycare knew the move.

Aura sphere wasn't an attack you saw very often. While several other Pokemon had been known to use it, the two Pokemon that mostly popped up in the green haired teen's mind when she thought of it were the aforementioned Togekiss... and the aura Pokemon, Lucario.

The girl from Sinnoh grinned, running past the fountain to get a closer look. Pushing her way to the front of what seemed to be the largest crowd of non-trainers still gathered at the park, the girl soon found that her suspicions were correct. There was a Lucario here, and it was going up against a Tyranitar of all things, expertly ducking to avoid a bite attack from the towering green rock lizard before rising swiftly to deliver a powerful force palm to the great beast's face, causing Tyranitar to stagger backwards.

The girl's fist clenched and she gave the Lucario an approving grin and nod, turning to the blue and yellow canine's trainer to see if it was someone she recognized...

... And it was.

The girl's fist unclenched. The excited grin she had been wearing slowly slipped off her face, replaced with a look of stunned disbelief, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

The Lucario's trainer was a teenage boy about the same age as the green haired girl. He wore a blue vest with yellow streaks on the sides over a white shirt with a red stripe across the middle, along with dark blue shorts. The trainer's head of black hair was adorned by a red cap with a green circle surrounded by a black C symbol at the center. Even from the distance the girl was standing, the distinctive zigzag marks on the boy's cheeks were noticeable if you looked closely enough... as was that smile that she would recognize anywhere.

The Pikachu perched on his shoulder only hammered in that there was no mistaking the boy for an identical stranger.

A warm smile crept up the girl's face, accompanied by a faint blush as her heart rate rose swiftly.

To fans of the sport of Pokemon battling who regularly watched the many annual Pokemon Leagues, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town was a rising star who had just struck big as the first Champion of the Alola Pokemon League.

To Angie, he was an old friend... and in her heart, something much greater than that.

* * *

Ash Ketchum wore a confident smirk on his face as his opponent's Tyranitar tried to shake off the impact of the force palm to its face. His recently evolved Lucario glanced sideways at him, the two shared knowing nods and Lucario assumed a defensive stance, carefully watching its opponent's every movement.

Ash leaned his head to the left to look past Tyranitar and observe the great rock lizard's trainer, a boy roughly the same age as Ash with brown hair and a mostly green get up, the main exception being the blue hat with a yellow line across the front with red dots at both ends. He and Ash bore a not terribly subtle resemblance to each other, right up to having his own Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

The trainer dressed in green had his teeth clenched at first, but upon noticing Ash was now watching him he eased up quickly and shot his opponent an impressed smirk.

"Your Lucario seems pretty tough" The brown haired trainer said with an approving nod, earning a quick but grateful grunt from Lucario "Of course, I'd expect nothing less from you Ash"

Ash chuckled, beaming back at his old friendly rival "I could say the same about you and Cruise. It's so cool he became a Tyranitar since I last saw him"

"Zippo became a Charizard too" The brown haired boy replied, nodding proudly "I'll show you after I beat ya!"

Ash's grin widened to Cheshire Cat proportions, while on his shoulder Pikachu started giggling deviously "You mean after I'm done beating you!"

The two trainers' eyes locked, and they exchanged one last friendly smirk before their expressions became more serious. They turned to their respective Pokemon, Tyranitar had now shaken off the impact of force palm and was stamping its foot, sending a menacing glare to Lucario who glared back with a determined frown, breaking its defensive stance and crouching down as he sensed his trainer preparing to launch an attack.

Ash and his opponent took deep breaths, exhaled softly, and then their eyes both blazed with determination as they threw their hands forward and called their next commands.

"Cruise, use Dark Pulse!"

"Lucario, aura sphere!"

Cruise the Tyranitar unleashed a furious roar and began charging up a dark energy between it's hands, releasing it as a series of blackish purple waves that flew forward towards Lucario, who had formed an enormous ball of deep blue energy between his own palms which the bipedal canine launched at the exact same time.

The two energy attacks collided in mid-air, briefly grinding against one another, the impact of which sent shockwaves across the park that made many onlookers stumble backwards and sent chunks of the nearby ground hurtling into the air. Eventually the competing attacks exploded against one another, with such great force that the blast summoned up a huge cloud of dust that obscured the battlefield.

Ash and his opponent covered their eyes, but were otherwise undeterred by the explosion, just grinning eagerly and waiting for the battlefield to clear up so they could launch their next attacks.

The gathered crowd of random citizens broke out in a round of excited chatter. Among them was a boy with light brown skin and black hair with two small red streaks, who was watching Ash with an amused grin.

"Can't take Ash anywhere without causing a scene, honestly" The boy, Ash's current travelling companion Goh, said with a casual shrug. He chuckled lightly "Gotta hand it to him though, Lucario hatched like three months ago and hasn't even been evolved for a week, and it's already battling like an expert. I don't know how Ash manages to bring out the best in his Pokemon so quickly"

A swift motion in the corner of Goh's right eye caught his attention, and Goh turned to see his partner Pokemon, a large white and red rabbit, eagerly punching and kicking the air, sporting a giddy grin and looking fully absorbed into the ongoing battle.

Goh had to chuckle. The Pokemon was his starter from the Galar Region, Cinderace, who had recently evolved to its final stage alongside Lucario during the recent Darkest Day fiasco Ash and Goh had dealt with on their most recent trip to the fire bunny's home region.

It was kind of comforting for Goh to see his partner behaving with such open excitement again. When Goh first met it as a Scorbunny, the much smaller rabbit had been a little ball of sunshine. A bit arrogant and show offish, but adorably cheerful and precocious, a lovable scamp with some mischievous tendencies.

After Scorbunny evolved into its second stage, Raboot, however, the fire rabbit suddenly became aloof, quiet and at first somewhat distant. For a while Goh had worried that their relationship had been irreparably strained due to some poor behaviour on his part and failure to properly understand his partner's feelings on a matter involving Scorbunny's great struggle to learn a fire type move.

They'd patched things up thankfully after a trip to Hoenn, and while Raboot was still a reserved and quiet Pokemon for a while, it quickly dropped the disobedient and rebellious tendencies it showed at first.

And now as a Cinderace, Goh's trusty parter's open and cheerful personality had been restored. It wasn't a total rebirth of the goofy little prankster Goh once knew, there was a slightly more mature edge to the bunny's personality at times... but whenever Cinderace's inner love for battles was ignited, as had been the case for the entire hour the duo had spent watching Ash challenge fellow Great Class trainers to high intensity matches, the sporty rabbit made no effort to reign in its childlike enthusiasm.

Goh kinda felt bad that he wasn't registered for the PWC so he didn't have much excuse to let Cinderace put that enthusiasm to good use. Goh wasn't much into battles, he was alright at them, he figured... at this point in his trainer career, anyway. But they weren't his thing, he preferred catching Pokemon. But Goh was fine with battling if it made Cinderace happy, after some of the near disastrous mistakes Goh had made misreading or outright disregarding his partner's feelings in the past Goh was careful now to be as supportive as he could of Cinderace's wishes.

Maybe he'd ask Ash to let Cinderace battle Gengar or Dragonite later, that would probably satisfy him... even if the latter would probably demolish the fire rabbit.

As the dust cloud over the battlefield began to fade away, Goh took a good look at the brown haired trainer who at first glance he was half convinced must have been a cousin of Ash's, especially after the enthusiastic way they had greeted each other and fist bumped initially.

Turns out the trainer, who's name was Ritchie, was an old friend and rival of Ash's from his days of competing in the Kanto League. The two had battled each other in the Indigo Conference, and Ash apparently lost (Seemingly under less than fair circumstances, the way Ritchie meekly described it) and later in Johto they had apparently fought Team Rocket together to save a mother and son pair of Lugia from the criminal organization's clutches.

Goh had balked at the latter story at first... But got over it very quickly. That sort of thing clearly happened all the time with Ash.

Ritchie seemed like a pretty good trainer, and his Tyranitar was clearly powerful and well trained. But the bulky rock-type seemed to lack in speed, and that seemed to have given Lucario an advantage beyond its typing being super effective against the rock/dark type. The battle between them had lasted a good ten minutes now, and in that time Lucario had landed nine attacks and taken only four itself from Tyranitar.

The results were clearly showing, as Tyranitar was now panting heavily and wore several bruises across its rock hard body... and yet, to Goh's concern, Lucario seemed to be panting almost as much.

Goh had to assume Tyranitar's attacks just hit that much harder due to the years of experience it had over the aura Pokemon. The fact it still seemed rearing to go despite the massive damage that had to have been inflicted on it by now would suggest it made up for its average speed with fantastic defense and stamina, along with very hard hitting attacks. Lucario was strong itself... but no matter what kind of special training Ash gave it or how much of a prodigy Lucario seemed to be, it obviously couldn't hope to have matched Tyranitar in every area with less than a years worth of battle experience.

Goh even had to wonder if the only reasons that last aura sphere hadn't been completely overwhelmed were because the wounded Tyranitar hadn't put its full might into its own attack, and that dark pulse had a type disadvantage against the fighting type attack.

Goh was confident Ash could pull through with a victory: He was Ash, defying the odds was one of his things. But he'd have to be quick and precise about it, because Goh had a sneaking suspicion that if Lucario took too many more hits, it wouldn't hold out much longer.

Either way... it certainly felt like the battle was approaching its climax.

The dust cloud over the improv battle field finally settled down enough that both competing trainers could clearly identify each other's Pokemon. Ritchie immediately narrowed his eyes on the panting Lucario.

"Cruise, use stone edge!"

Cruise the Tyranitar let out another mighty roar as the ferocious Pokemon raised its right hand into the air, then threw it down into the ground with tremendous force. A large stone pillar rose out of the ground in front of Cruise. Then another stone in front of that. And another in front of that one. More jagged rocks kept rising out of the ground every second, getting progressively closer to Lucario.

Ash kept a calculated watch over the incoming stones... then smirked deviously once they reached a certain distance.

"Jump up high into the air and land on the end of that stone edge!" Ash ordered.

Ritchie's jaw dropped.

"What kind of crazy..."

Lucario did as it was instructed, crouching down and then swiftly bounding into the air, the final rock in stone edges line up rising out of the ground a split second afterwards.

Lucario expertly backflipped through the air three times, and right before it landed Ash further instructed "Now run across the stone edge to hit Cruise with force palm!"

Ritchie and Cruise's eyes bulged.

Lucario landed safely on the end of the stone edge and blitzed forward, swiftly skipping between the row of raised stone pillars and closing in on Tyranitar with the speed and fury of an oncoming train.

Ritchie grit his teeth, thinking fast. He felt trapped. Cruise still had his paw to the ground, and it would take too long for the green lizard to rise to its feet to either dodge or let out a dark pulse, with the speed Lucario was approaching. And he doubted that he'd be able to strike first or cancel out the attack with bite.

Guess there was only one other thing he could try, then.

"Use Sandstorm!"

Cruise raised his head and growled deeply, and almost immediately a huge wave of sand swirled around the Tyranitar's body and expanded outwards, quickly engulfing the entire battlefield and even much of the park area around it in a raging sandstorm. Much to the vocal displeasure of everyone gathered around watching the fight, most of whom covered their eyes or were forced to look away, and one man complained very loudly about his ruined ice cream.

Sandstorm was an attack often employed for lengthy battles. Its main purpose was that the raging gusts of sandy wind would gradually deal continuous waves of light damage to any Pokemon on the battlefield that wasn't a ground, rock or steel type.

It was a signature tactic employed by trainers of Tyranitar... though not usually because they taught their Tyranitar the attack, but rather because their usual special ability, Sand Stream, caused a sandstorm to be immediately summoned up when they entered a battle. Cruise's ability happened to be Unnerve however, so they had had to compensate by mastering the actual move.

Lucario was part steel type, so the main function of sandstorm wouldn't take effect against it... but as any smart trainer would tell you, the attack had other advantages. In this case, it was that the sudden stream of sand had shocked Lucario and swiftly halted its advance, as the Aura Pokemon stopped to cover its eyes.

Cruise began to crouch backwards and rise to his feet, and the rocks formed by stone edge started sinking back into the ground one after the other. Lucario fell backwards as the rock it currently stood on vanished, landing unsteadily on the backs of its feet, floundering about unsteadily in a comically ungraceful manner that was rarely witnessed with its species.

"GAH!" Ash grunted worryingly, as Ritchie looked triumphant.

"Now use Dark pulse!"

Cruise seemed to smirk maliciously as the large rock lizard started charging up a fresh wave of dark energy between its palms, launching it at Lucario with as much force as it could manage. Ash called out frantically for Lucario to dodge, but the flailing blue canine was in no position to act on that command quickly enough, and took the full brunt of the dark pulse.

Though not an especially effective attack against its species normally owing to the typing, the charged up waves of darkness struck Lucario with such great force that they sent him flying backwards many feet, crashing hard against the concrete of the battleground. Lucario trembled on the floor afterwards, struggling greatly to rise to his feet again and wobbling unsteadily as he did so.

Though they were all still a bit agitated and most having a hard time keeping a close watch on the battle through the rushing sandstorm, the results of that last clash quickly became clear to the audience of normal citizens.

The half of the crowd rooting for Ritchie broke out in thunderous applause, while murmurs of disappointment and concern echoed out from those in support of Ash. Cinderace stopped punching the air and stared wordlessly at his shaky companion, mouth slightly agape, while Goh just watched on with a steely expression.

Ash himself looked downbeat over his situation, and even Pikachu was pouting and uttering a sad "Pika pika"

"Don't you dare give up!" A girls voice called out. Ash blinked and looked around for the source, certain whoever it was had directed the demand to him. He couldn't make out any faces in the crowd, just vague shapes through the swirling sand, only the Pokémon in front of him were particularly visible.

Pursing his lips, Ash turned back to his still standing Pokémon and clenched his fist, feeling determined not to let whoever that was down.

Ash began to sweat, gritting his teeth as he weighed his options. Ritchie had just outwitted what could have been his winning strategy, and there was no way now that Lucario could keep going if it took any more solid hits from the more experienced Tyranitar. And Ritchie already looked to be getting ready to capitalize on this opportunity.

Ash looked at Lucario with a concerned frown... then raised a curious eyebrow, realizing there might be a way for him to actually capitalize on his Pokémon's growing fatigue.

If only he had a safe way to close the distance between the two Pokémon so Lucario could strike first... well, guess it was time to get unconventional again.

"Cruise, finish it off with-"

"Use aura sphere on the ground in front of you, fast!" Ash hastily cut across Ritchie, who paused before calling his attack to stare in disbelief towards Ash.

"Pika?" Ritchie's Pikachu Sparky uttered uncertainly.

 _'Wait... what would that accomplish?'_ He wondered.

Lucario itself looked surprised by his trainers instructions, but obediently charged up an aura sphere anyway. Ritchie thought about following through with his own attack... but curiosity got the better of him and he hesitated, just carefully watching as Lucario's energy ball assaulted the ground, sending several small and large chunks of concrete into the air in front of Lucario.

Ash spared no time following up his previous command by shouting "Now launch that rubble at Cruise, then run up and use Reversal!"

Ritchie and his two Pokemon's eyes bulged as Lucario followed through, fighting through the pain in its legs and central body to jump up and rapidly kick all of the largest chunks of falling rubble, sending them flying towards the Tyranitar. Lucario spun around and landed gracefully on its feet, pouncing forward to trail behind the shards of concrete now hurtling towards the great lizard. A yellow glow surrounded Lucario's clenched right fist as it ran.

"Counter with bite!" Ritchie yelled in a panic.

Cruise the Tyranitar summoned a set of glowing white teeth in front of its mouth and threw its head forward to comply. The energy teeth swiftly obliterated the chunks of rubble one after the other, but unluckily for the Tyranitar it left itself wide open for Lucario to swoop in straight afterwards and deliver a harsh upward punch to the blue diamond across its chest with his glowing fist.

Reversal was an attack that grew more powerful the more the user suffered damage. And as the expression of complete agony on Cruise's face at the moment of impact indicated, the damage Lucario had suffered through the fight had allowed the attack to reach almost maximum effect. The poor lizard didn't even have time to gasp in pain before it was sent flying into the air.

"Cruise!" Ritchie called out in despair, and could only watch as his Tyranitar hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud, rolling forward uncontrollably afterwards. Ritchie and Sparky both face-faulted, and the trainer swiftly barrel rolled out of the way to avoid being steamrolled by the massive Pokémon, who eventually crashed head first into the fountain just outside the area sectioned off for the battle.

Ritchie anxiously held out a hand in the direction of his now thoroughly battered Pokémon, who to its credit did try to push itself up after everything it had just endured... but ultimately collapsed once again, and Cruise's swirling eyes signalled the battle was over.

With its caster defeated, the sandstorm shrouding the battlefield disappeared, fully revealing the results of the battle to the entire crowd. At first everyone stared in stunned silence at the felled Tyranitar… and then after it all settled in, the crowd broke out in applause, even those on team Ritchie respectfully clapping along for the victorious Ash and Lucario.

"Yes! We did it!" Ash cheered, jumping up and fist pumping the air.

"Pi Pikachu!" Ash's trusty Pikachu joined in, standing up on Ash's shoulder and making a V-sign with his paw once his trainer had landed.

Lucario heaved an exhausted sigh and dropped to his knees, feeling the exhaustion from the intense battle begin to overwhelm him. Didn't stop the aura Pokemon from grinning proudly as his trainer rushed forward to wrap him in a congratulatory hug, however.

"Lucario, you were awesome!" Ash declared. Pikachu nodded in agreement and leaned forward to pat his team mate on the head, Lucario happily leaned into it.

Ritchie watched the victory cuddle with a content smile on his face. He shook his head, still feeling disappointed at his failure but holding no hard feelings towards his old friend. They earned that victory.

And so Ritchie calmly returned Cruise the Tyranitar to his Pokeball, gently thanking his Pokemon for having put up a great fight before craning his head to stare at the yellow Rotom Drone that had been hovering over the battlefield.

 **"Tyranitar is unable to battle! That means Lucario is the winner!"** The drone announced, projecting an image of Ash from its eyes **"Which means the victory goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"**

The crowd cheered slightly louder.

Ritchie nodded at the drone, a proud smile on his face as he approached Ash, who stopped hugging Lucario to look up at him. Grinning eagerly, Ash gave Lucario a good pat on the head.

"Thank you so much Lucario. Now take a good rest, you deserve it" Ash said, pulling out Lucario's Pokeball. Lucario grunted proudly and nodded at his trainer as a red light shot out from the pokeball, reducing the aura Pokemon itself to red light that was absorbed into the red and white sphere.

Ash rose to his feet and met Ritchie's steady gaze with a wide, goofy grin. Ritchie made an identical grin as he held out his hand expectantly to Ash, Sparky waving happily at Ash's Pikachu as his trainer did so. Pikachu eagerly waved back as Ash gladly shook Ritchie's hand.

"All things considered... that rematch was well worth the wait" Ritchie admitted, sounding exhilarated "I'm glad we were able to meet up again like this"

"Same here" Ash said with a vigorous nod "Let's not wait as long to do this again"

"Alright, but don't sound so confident. Cause I'm going to win the next round" Ritchie bragged.

Ash gave his lookalike rival a cheeky smirk, teasingly raising his eyebrows "Oh, are you now?"

The two trainers stared intently into each other's eyes... then broke out laughing, Ritchie giving Ash a friendly slap to the shoulder Pikachu wasn't perched on.

 **"As** **a** **result of today's battle, there has been** **a** **change in the Pokemon World Championships trainer rankings!"** The Rotom Drone suddenly declared before flying off somewhere.

Ritchie pulled out a green Rotom Phone, staring in discontent at his new PWC ranking displayed on the screen "... Well, guess I've got some more climbing to do later..."

A round of excited chatter filled that corner of the Vermilion Park as the crowds began to disperse. Goh and Cinderace strolled forward to approach Ash and Ritchie, as the latter pocketed his phone and turned away from Ash.

"I guess I should be going, I'll catch you guys again later" Ritchie said.

Ash and Pikachu frowned disappointedly "Do you have to leave right away? I was hoping we could hang out some more"

"I actually have somewhere I needed to be after the battle festival. Honestly, I was cutting it a bit close battling you, but I really couldn't say no to that opportunity" Ritchie said, looking back at Ash with an apologetic smile "I'm still in Vermilion City tomorrow though. So I'll stop by that lab you're working at to say hi sometime. Okay?"

Ash sighed, but gave his friend a small smile "Okay, sounds good. You guys take care, and we'll see you tomorrow!"

"Alright then. Later Ash, thanks for everything!" Ritchie said, waving goodbye as he started walking off. From his shoulder Sparky the Pikachu waved too.

"Pika, Pikachu!" Sparky called out.

"Pikachu!" Ash's Pikachu called back, waving the departing duo off along with his trainer.

Goh slowly approached Ash, staring after Ritchie's fleeting form before rounding on Ash, at whom he smiled and cleared his throat.

"So, how's your tournament ranking after all this?" Goh asked after gaining Ash's attention. Ash pulled out his own red Rotom Phone to check.

"I'm in the eight hundreds now" Ash observed. He grinned eagerly, patting his chest "Not bad for a hard day's work, but could always be better!"

"Honestly, if you keep battling like that and avoid another bad slump, you could be in the Ultra Class in no time" Goh said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Ash's goofy grin came back in full force.

"And then all I have to do is reach the Master Class!" Ash said, getting pumped up "And then at the end of the season I'll get a chance to battle Leon! And if I beat him and become the World Champion, I'll be well on my way to being a Pokemon Master!"

"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, flexing impressively.

"World Champion, huh?!" Called out a female voice from behind Ash, causing the boys and their Pokemon to jump in fright at the sudden interruption "Ambitious as ever, I see!"

Ash flipped around, staring curiously at the speaker. A teenage girl dressed in green, looking at him with piercing amber coloured eyes. Ash stared dumbly at her, and the girl giggled impishly, closing her eyes and grinning widely at Ash and giving him a friendly wave.

Ash frowned uncertainly at the girl... his expression slowly grew more thoughtful until something clicked in his mind, and his face lit up with excitement.

"No way-Angie!" Ash yelled, waving back vigorously. Pikachu blinked slowly before smiling just as widely as his trainer and calling out to the girl too.

Angie snickered, weaving a hand through her mossy hair and striking a dramatic pose "The one and only!"

Goh scratched his head, he and Cinderace staring oddly at the new arrival as Ash bounded forward with his signature child-like enthusiasm. He stopped in front of Angie, looking into her eyes and then examining her face more closely, as if he couldn't believe it was really her. Or at least that's the feeling Angie got, making her roll her eyes sarcastically before raising a fist in between her and Ash. Ash stared at it curiously for a moment before an "Oh, right!" Expression spread over his face, and he raised his own fist in front of hers.

Ash and Angie fist bumped, looked into each others eyes for a moment afterwards, and then started giggling.

"Nice to see you remember all of us little people now that you're famous, mister Alola Champion" Angie said playfully. Ash laughed nervously, scratching his chin.

"Heh... I wouldn't say that I am, nobody outside of Alola ever seems to bring it up, and I don't like to brag" Ash said. Pikachu whispered something into Ash's ear that got him to glare irritably at him, as if he had a pretty good idea what Pikachu was talking about just from the yellow mouse's tone "Hey, I'm a lot more mature and humble than I was back then!"

Angie suppressed a hard laugh and leaned forward to pat Pikachu on the head "I don't get it, but you tell him, Pikachu"

"Pi-kaaa" Pikachu sighed contently, happily leaning into the tomboy's hand.

Goh watched Ash and Angie giggling and making small talk with a look of awkward uncertainty. Cinderace didn't seem to have reservations and just eagerly ran up to Ash's side, eagerly greeting Angie with a friendly wave of his paw. Angie looked the sporty rabbit up and down with a curious frown at first, clearly completely unfamiliar with its species, but eventually she smiled and returned the gesture just as Goh walked up to join them.

"Yet another old friend of yours, I take it?" Goh inquired of Ash, who flipped around and started gesturing enthusiastically to Angie as though he were presenting something mind-blowingly amazing.

"Goh, I'd like to introduce you to my Sinnoh buddy Angie!" Ash declared, pausing as if holding for applause, and continuing when Goh just raised his eyebrow and smiled meekly at the girl "She's from Solaceon Town. I met her at a Summer Camp while I was in Sinnoh with Dawn and Brock, we were on this team together! We did a bunch of neat stuff together, even nearly got sucked into the underworld! Her family own a daycare service, and she's really super awesome at raising and commanding the Pokémon they work with there. You should see how badly she and this Lickilicky she evolved thrashed Team Rocket!"

"I wasn't SUPPOSED to evolve it..." Angie said, scratching her head nervously and looking embarrassed "... Buuuut, the owner was actually pretty happy about it, so it worked out... and heh, I'm awesome, huh? Good to know!"

"Huh" Goh said, nodding unconsciously and smiling a bit more sincerely "Well, that sounds very interesting. Nice to meet you!"

...

Goh's eyes suddenly expanded to the size of dinner plates, and he looked to Ash incredulously "Wait-WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SUCKED INTO THE UNDERWORLD!?"

Ash, Pikachu and Angie blinked slowly at Goh, who along with Cinderace now looked almost frantically bewildered. Angie was the first to react, scratching the back of her head and lightly chuckling "Yeah, funny story there. There was this creepy ghost girl trying to condemn people or something, and also a Duscnoir trying to stop her from taking people. And Ash totally saved my life"

Ash nodded, suddenly putting on a super serious expression and reaching out his hand as though he were holding onto something.

"I'll never let go! Even if that means forever" Ash dramatically quoted himself. Angie laughed hysterically, and a luminescent blush slowly crept up her cheeks, which Goh normally would have noticed and been curious about if he wasn't currently so perturbed.

"..." Goh glared at Ash, heaving a beleaguered sigh "... Why am I still caught off guard by anything you say or do at this point?"

Ash shrugged carelessly. Noticing Angie now looking at his black haired friend curiously, Ash spun around and gestured to Goh in the same manner he had done with her and said "Oh yeah, this is Goh. He's my current travel buddy! We work together at a lab here in Vermilion when I'm not competing in the world Championships, and we go on a lot of cool adventures for a guy called Professor Cerise. Goh's really awesome, he wants to catch Mew, and he's decided he's gonna catch one of every kind of Pokémon there is before he does it! And he's really good at it too, he has almost a hundred of them I think"

Angie whistled impressively, putting her hands on her hips and sizing Goh up "Well, that is impressive"

Goh smiled gratefully, chuckling bashfully "I haven't really counted them in a while, so I don't know about a hundred... but I'm getting there!" Goh suddenly looked invigorated, reaching out a hand to the sky and clenching it tightly "The future is in the palm of my hands!"

Angie blinked twice "... Right" She said slowly. She shook her head, extending a hand "Nice to meet'cha, Goh"

Goh lowered his own hand to shake Angie's, nodding to her "Likewise. Any friend of Ash's is a friend of mine, I suppose"

"And this fella?" Angie pointed at Cinderace, who puffed out his chest and tapped it impressively.

"That's Cinderace, my first Pokémon and trusted partner!" Goh said proudly. Angie smiled and reached over to pet the bunny, who grinned serenely and started tapping his foot rapidly. Angie and Ash giggled at it.

"Speaking of Ash's friends" Angie said, looking around curiously for a moment before looking at Ash with a raised eyebrow "Are Brock and Dawn here with you?"

"Nope" Ash said casually, though he tapped his feet together and looked a tad wistful "We kinda all parted ways after Sinnoh… it happens, but we keep in touch. Dawn won a Grand Festival in Johto recently from what I heard, and Brock's studying to be a Pokémon Doctor"

"Really" Angie said, sounding very impressed "That's awesome! Good for them" She looked a bit remorseful, sighing quietly "Too bad they're not here though... would have been nice to catch up with them"

"You can catch up with me all you want" Ash offered. Angie blushed again, chuckling nervously and looking away. This time Goh definitely noticed her flustered reaction, and put a hand to his mouth to hide that he was giggling over it.

Ash also noticed and stared at Angie oddly for a second, but didn't make too much of it and instead curiously asked "Come to think of it... what brings you all the way out here anyway, Angie?"

"Family vacation. My dad's sister runs her own Daycare near Cerulean, and we visit her whenever we can" Angie explained "My dad's at a bar somewhere for the moment, so I'm just casually wandering around. Happened to catch your little battle just now"

"Huh, really? Cool coincidence" Ash said, nodding slowly. He frowned thoughtfully, snapping his fingers and grinning at Angie "That was you that called out to me not to give up, wasn't it?"

"You looked a bit spaced out, so I thought you could use some encouragement" Angie said with a smug smirk. Ash nodded gratefully.

"Thanks. That helped clear my head a bit"

"Pikachu" Pikachu said nicely.

"So, how long are you here in Vermilion City for?" Ash asked.

"Not long" Angie said simply "But I should be here for the rest of the day and probably tomorrow"

Ash grinned eagerly "In that case, you just gotta come check out Cerise Park! All of Goh's Pokémon and a bunch of the ones I've caught recently are there, you'll love it!"

Angie shrugged casually "Sounds like a date to me" She said cheerfully. After registering the specific word choice she'd used Angie's face lit up brighter then ever and she hastily looked away from Ash, hoping he didn't think much of it.

"Let's go right away then" Ash said, smiling innocently.

Evidently he didn't.

"Heh" Goh said, curiously observing Angie for a moment before turning to Ash "I wonder... just how many friends do you have, anyway?"

"Quite a lot" Ash said "Maybe someday soon I'll get to introduce you to them all"

With that said Ash suddenly wore a ponderous frown and looked up to the sky, quietly watching the clouds pass by for a minute. He really DID have a lot of friends, come to think of it. Even narrowing it down to just the people he'd travelled through whole regions with and his classmates from the Pokémon School on Melemele Island, he had at least sixteen people he could sincerely call his best friends besides Goh. And Ash was sure he couldn't even begin to count the ones beyond that.

That was quite a lot of people he cherished and had strong bonds with. Probably more friends than most people could attest to having.

He was kinda proud about that.

_'I wonder just what everybody's up to right now?'_

* * *

**_*Cerulean City Gym*_ **

"Treecko is unable to battle! Victory goes to the Gym Leader, Misty!"

The red-haired Gym Leader wiped a layer of sweat off her brow and exhaled, letting out a deep breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding in.

Standing on a floating platform in the middle of the large pool that comprised the battlefield of the water specialist gym, Misty's Starmie, a many pointed purple starfish Pokemon with a red jewel at its center, carefully poked its downed opponent with one of its lower limbs.

Over on the challengers end of the battlefield the green Gecko's trainer, a black haired bespectacled youth dressed in a green shirt and brown shorts, furrowed his brow and straightened his glasses, giving a disappointed sigh.

"That... could have gone better..." Max Maple dryly commented before returning his starter Pokemon. Over on her end of the pool, Misty giggled and shot Max an approving grin.

"Don't worry about it, you should be proud of that performance" Misty said kindly, returning her own Pokemon.

Her opponent was another former travelling companion of Misty's old friend Ash, who she had met before a couple times along with his older sister May a few years back, first during a trip she took to Hoenn for a brief reunion with Ash and Brock, and then again during a brief period where Misty travelled with the group when Ash set off to challenge the Battle Frontier.

Misty and Max had a brief misadventure together at Mt Moon involving a certain Team Rocket Trio's typical shenanigans, and Misty would gladly say they were at least casual friends after that. They weren't exactly close, but Misty had a bit of affection for the little smart Alec, relating to his frustrations in being a younger sibling, and Misty had asked May how he was doing a couple of times over the years whenever she called the co-ordinator to congratulate her on a major victory.

Max had been a few years too young to be a Pokemon trainer back then, and was mostly travelling around with Ash, May and Brock to get some life experience, usually serving as the group's travel guide with his Pokenav. Also according to Ash, Max apparently had adopted her habit of pulling Brock away by the ear whenever he made a clown of himself around pretty women after seeing her do it on her trip to Hoenn, which brought Misty no small level of amusement.

Recently though Max had finally turned ten years old, the internationally recognized age where one could officially become a Pokemon trainer, and he'd decided to take up the Kanto Gym challenge. He had already reportedly won a boulder badge against Brock's brother Forrest at the Pewter Gym before challenging Misty.

It had been a pretty spectacular Gym Battle too. Max was very precise and analytical with his commands, while also being fairly good at improvising. Evidently he'd taken a lot of cues from the many battles he'd witnessed with Ash, May and Brock. He still made a few rookie mistakes like rushing in to attack at inopportune moments though, Max obviously still didn't have a lot of practical battling experience yet, but his team of a Slakoth, Ralts and Treecko had sure given Misty's Horsea, Staryu and Starmie a good run for their money regardless.

Max didn't seem to agree with her assessment of his performance being impressive though, just staring quietly at Treecko's pokeball with an annoyed frown on his face as Misty returned her Starmie.

"I don't see what pride there is in losing" Max said off-handedly. On her side of the pool Misty gave an encouraging smile.

"Losing's part of the Pokemon trainer experience. Nothing you can do but learn from it, keep training and try, try, try again until you win" Misty said, shrugging "I mean hey, how many times did Ash have to battle Brandon before he conquered the Battle Frontier?"

Max considered that for a moment, slowly scratching his chin "I guess that's a good point... still annoying, though"

"Oh yeah, no one enjoys losing. Just don't get hung up over it, is all" Misty said. Her smile turned more playful "If it helps any, Ash never actually beat me and Brock to get our badges"

Max looked really surprised by that "Wait... seriously?"

"True story. In fact, half of the badges in Kanto he actually won through some good deed rather than beating the Gym Leaders" Misty said, giggling a bit "Brock and I like to tease him by calling them pity badges"

"That must really wind him up" Max said, now sporting a cheeky grin.

"It sure used to, though these days he just shrugs it off unless we bring it up around his newer friends. Then he just gets super embarrassed" Misty replied "Ash was pretty hopeless back then, always screwing stuff up... but he kept improving, never let failure demotivate him for long, and look at him now! Champion of Alola! So don't get too bitter about one loss, you did fine. I'm sure Ash would be impressed"

"You think?" Max said curiously. Misty nodded at him and turned to the referee, one of the members of her sisters' fan club who regularly hung out at the gym "I'll be back in a minute, if anyone turns up unexpectedly tell them to book an appointment for tomorrow, I'm booked through most of the day for Challengers"

The referee nodded in understanding and saluted Misty, who smiled gratefully and walked around the edge of the pool to meet up with Max.

"I'm booked through most of the afternoon that is, but I set aside time to watch the Wallace Cup. I'm pretty sure your sister's next round starts in twenty minutes" Misty explained "If you want, we can go drop off our Pokemon at the Pokemon Centre for a while, and you can watch the match on TV with me and my sisters. You can even stay for dinner if you want"

Max smiled graciously, cheeks slightly red "Um, okay. That would be nice... you sure you're alright with that?"

"Of course. We're friends, you're welcome to stay with us anytime" Misty said cheerfully. Max beamed at her.

"I'd be glad to" He said. Then suddenly he began twirling his fingers together and looked slightly bashful, his blush deepened as he nervously asked "Are, um... are all your sisters going to be there?"

Misty had to suppress a laugh at that. She knew exactly what was up with him, Max had actually arrived in Cerulean City the previous day while Daisy, Violet and Lily were all putting on one of their shows. Misty and Max had watched it together, the Gym was briefly closed for Gym battles to accommodate the performance so there was little else they could do, and the way Max kept staring at her sisters with a mystified expression on his face made it clear he had a bit of a crush on them. It was kind of funny how he wasn't even a teenager yet, and Max was already taking more of an interest in girls than Ash seemed to.

A mischievous grin spread over Misty's face and she began playfully ruffling Max's hair "All three of them. You'll probably all get along, I'm sure they'll think you're just the most adorable little thing"

Max did not seem to approve of that suggestion or the sweet, babying tone of voice Misty said it in one bit, if the angry pout he was giving her was any indication.

"I'm not that little" Max muttered, furiously straightening up his hair. Misty giggled and grabbed his hand, leading Max out of the Pokemon Gym.

The two walked towards the Pokemon Centre in silence at first, Max mostly just taking in the sights of one of the few major Cities of Kanto he'd never visited. When they were halfway to the Centre, Misty finally decided to ask something that had been on her mind since the previous day.

"So, why Kanto then?" Misty asked. Max looked at her curiously, and so she added "I'm just curious. You're from Hoenn, and most new trainers who decide to do a Gym Challenge start with their home region. So why not Hoenn"

"Ash started in Kanto" Max said simply. Misty waited a bit for him to elaborate, and when Max didn't she chuckled.

"I'm guessing you really look up to Ash then?"

"A bit" Max answered, a slight smile on his face.

"You know, he's actually living in Vermilion City at the moment, last I heard from him. If you're heading there for one of your Gym Battles, stop by a place called the Cerise Laboratory if you want to see him" Misty explained.

"Wait, really?" Max tapped his chin, frowning slightly "Huh, I knew he was back in Kanto, but I wasn't sure where... guess I better skip Vermilion for now then"

Misty blinked at the bespectacled boy "What for? I thought you said you liked Ash?"

"I do" Max said, doing that gesture where one pushed up their glasses with one finger which Misty suddenly wondered if there was a term for "... But the last time I saw Ash, I made him promise he'd have a battle with me when I became a trainer and we met again. Knowing how strong a lot of his Pokemon are, I kinda want to train more and compete in at least one league first before that happens, and I couldn't get out of battling Ash if I did meet up with him before then. I'd stand no chance if I battled him right now"

Misty nodded "Ah, okay. That makes sense, I guess you would want a battle like that to be as memorable as possible, too"

"I'd also feel pretty embarrassed if I lost or didn't at least put up a good fight, considering how much i made fun of his performance at the Silver Conference and bragged that I could do better when I first met him" Max said, scratching his head impishly. Misty laughed hysterically, and Max looked away with an awkward grin "Yeah... not one of my finest moments, I'll admit"

"Ash and I both had really bad arrogant streaks back in the day, so I don't think he'd hold it against you too badly" Misty said. She suddenly looked thoughtful "Come to think of it, I hope you do win. Knowing Ash it's likely he's on another one of those after that big win in Alola and needs his regular reality check to clear his head"

"I'll certainly try" Max said, coming to a stop and staring distantly at the sky. It took Misty half a dozen steps further before she realized this and came to a halt herself, raising an eyebrow at the newbie trainer. Eventually Max realized she was watching and fiddled with his glasses briefly.

"You know, growing up, I always idolized my dad" Max started, looking to the sky again "I still do, he's awesome. One of the things I'd really like to do in life is take over the Gym from him someday... but, you know... since our days travelling together in Hoenn, I really started to admire Ash too. He's brave, committed, and pretty cool when he wants to be... and honestly, in a lot of ways... he's exactly the kind of trainer I want to be like"

Misty smiled at Max, putting a hand on her hip and giggling at the sweetness of it all "I throw shade at him all the time... but honestly, when you get down to it, Ash is a remarkable guy. I kinda look up to him too" Misty gave Max a sarcastic frown "Don't ever tell him I said that, though"

"I won't tell if you don't tell" Max replied. The pair shared a good laugh. When they both calmed down Max tapped his chin and added "Well, I know where to find Ash for a while anyway... see how things go when I eventually do challenge him"

"Again, best of luck" Misty said, continuing her stroll towards the Pokemon Centre. Max nodded gratefully before following after her.

"So how's Brock" Max asked. Misty blinked at him for a second, then smiled proudly.

"He's doing pretty great, actually. I'm sure you've heard he's training to be a Pokemon doctor now, but recently he got accepted onto a special course in Saffron City that'll get him the job in a few years if he applies himself" Misty said. Max stumbled for a moment, after correcting himself he beamed at Misty.

"No way! Really!?"

"Yup!" Misty nodded, grinning ear to ear "I haven't seen him since our vacation in Alola, but he sounded so proud and excited over the phone! I'm thrilled for him, it's like everything's going exactly right for Brock right now" Misty's grin twisted into a more devious smirk "Well, almost everything... guy still can't get a date to save his life"

"Well, we can't ask for miracles" Max snarked. He shook his head "But yeah, wow... that sounds great. I'm happy to hear that, hope Brock gets the job"

"I'm sure he will. He's the most dedicated person I know alongside Ash, after all" Misty said. She looked curiously at Max "How's May doing? I haven't spoken much to her since she won that Grand Festival in Sinnoh"

"Pretty good, she's really enjoying being a top coordinator now" Max answered "She's competing in the Hoenn circuit again, I think she's aiming to finally beat Solidad this time" He chuckled impishly "Also unlike Brock, she's actually in a relationship now"

Misty's eyebrows shot to the top of her head.

"Seriously!?" Misty gasped, looking at Max with great interest.

"Yup" Max said simply, putting his hands behind his head. Noticing the way Misty was still looking at him he elaborated "Her and Drew hooked up after the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Apparently Harley somehow finally got it through her thick head that Drew was into her, they talked things out, and now they're a couple"

"Oh my gosh! Good for her" Misty squealed. Max shrugged coolly.

"Yeah, honestly it was about time something happened between them" Max said. He giggled deviously "I've been teasing her about it non-stop every time she calls home"

"Well what kind of sibling would you be if you didn't" Misty joked. The Gym Leader and her young challenger exchanged wide, cheeky grins and broke out in hysterical laughter that lasted half a minute. After calming down Misty suddenly frowned, looking a bit annoyed.

'Wow, though... May has a boyfriend and here I am still single' Misty thought to herself. Her frown intensified, her annoyance now directed mostly at herself for feeling mopey about something like that 'I mean... I don't NEED one. I'm fine being single, but... ugh, maybe if a certain SOMEONE would just stop being so cartoonishly dense about the very concept of romance!'

"So how about you then, Misty?" Max piped up. Misty's face lit up as she clenched her teeth, her mind going into panic mode.

"I-I-I'm single! And-and I'm proud of it! I'm a strong, driven and independent woman, and I don't need a man!" Misty hastily blurted out, stopping in her tracks to puff out her chest impressively and hold her head high, giving a defiant snort in the process.

Max just quietly stared at Misty with a look of bemusement for what felt like an eternity "... I meant how are you doing? Personally, like with Ash, Brock and May"

The colour rapidly faded from Misty's face until she was as white as paper, and she hung her head in humiliation.

"... Oh... right..."

It took Misty a while to recover from her embarrassment, but when the colour had largely returned to her face she took a deep breath, released it in a cool sigh and smiled half-heartedly at Max.

"Oh, I'm fine" Misty said, shrugging casually "Same old same old mostly. My sisters are a pain, Psyduck keeps eating all the ice cream and sending the Gym on country road trips with his confusion attack afterwards, I've got a lot of Gym Challengers to face, including you just now"

Misty's face suddenly lit up as she recalled something pretty interesting and she held up a tightly clenched fist, a fire burned in the tomboy's eyes as she boasted "And I'm also in the Ultra Class of the Pokemon World Championships! As a matter of fact, I've got a pretty important battle coming up against Nessa of the Galar region in two weeks related to that!"

"Nessa?" Max said, looking intrigued.

"She's a water type gym leader" Misty said, the fire in her eyes burning brighter "The Galar region is pretty famous for having some of the strongest Gym Leaders in the world. Their top ten are all ranked in international League polls among the top thirty gym leaders in the world! Raihan, the leader of the Hammerlocke Gym, even ranks as the number one strongest, even being in the Masters eight... and Nessa is the highest ranked Water Type Gym Leader"

Max's glasses fell slightly. He quickly straightened them up, looking at Misty with wide eyes.

"How do you rank?"

"As of the most recent polls, I'm the second strongest water type Gym Leader" Misty said proudly. She relaxed and opened her raised fist, only to clench it again even harder as she continued "My dream is to be a Water Pokemon Master. And to do that, I've decided that I need to become the best Water type gym leader there is... if I beat Nessa in the Pokemon World Championships, I can proudly say I've accomplished that!"

Max whistled impressively, looking up at the older trainer with eyes filled with admiration "Wow... good luck, Misty. I hope you win"

"Me too" Misty sighed, smiling anxiously and scratching her head. The fire in her eyes seemed to be dying down "... I've been training rigorously for it... but to be honest, I'm not completely sure I can win"

"If you don't, just be like Ash and keep training and trying again until you do" Max said helpfully. Misty chuckled weakly.

"I guess..." Misty trained off, staring at the ground and crossing her hands behind her back "... I'll still have a long way to go if I do beat Nessa... there's still people like Prima and Siebold and Wallace to worry about, after all..."

The flames in Misty's eyes were reignited as she raised her head and gave Max a proud smirk "But yeah... I WILL keep trying. I WILL be the greatest Water Pokemon trainer! I've come this far, so I'm not backing down!"

Misty threw her fist into the air at that declaration, earning her a standing ovation from Max.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck Misty" Max said, a gleam of determination in his eyes as he added "Let's both work hard to beat our tough opponents, and be the best trainers we can be"

Max extended a fist to Misty, which she looked curiously at before meeting his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Younger sibling solidarity?" Max asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

Misty giggled, smiling endearing at Max as she bumped her fist against his "Younger sibling solidarity!"

Misty and Max giggled. A few seconds later they continued towards their destination, finally arriving at the Pokemon Centre a minute later. As Max entered the building, Misty stopped at the door for a moment and looked to the sky, pondering.

Talking about her participation in the Pokemon World Championships had reminded her that since Ash was also competing this year, there was a good chance he would come to compete against her whenever he entered the Ultra Class.

She would have to prepare for him too then. Pikachu had handily beaten her Mega Gyarados in their last battle, so there was no way Misty could afford to ease up at any point even if she did beat Nessa and then become a Water Pokemon Master.

She smiled eagerly, thrilled by the prospect of another heated battle against Ash... and beyond that, just the thought of hanging out with Ash again for a while was appealing to Misty. She always started to miss the company of her best friend whenever she went a long time without seeing him.

 _'I guess I'll have to visit him at that lab he's working at some time'_ Misty thought to herself _'Or I can make him come to me. Seriously, with how not far away he's living now, I'm going to be very annoyed if he DOESN'T meet up with me sometime soon'_

* * *

_***Pallet** **Town,** **Professor** **Oak's** **Ranch***_

"... Do I even want to know how this happened?"

Professor Oak, an elderly man with grey hair who always wore a white labcoat over a red shirt and a pair of brown trousers, stared in utter bafflement at the sight of Ash's Oshawott's body flailing around in a panic while it's head was stuck in the left cannon turret of the Blastoise belonging to Oak's grandson, Gary.

Blastoise was tepidly watching the blue otter Pokemon's torso flounder around, a large drop of sweat hanging on the side of its head. Blastoise turned its head to face Professor Oak, giving the old man a desperate, pleading look to which the Professor could only respond with a half-hearted shrug and an awkwardly sympathetic look on his face.

To either side of Professor Oak stood the aforementioned Gary, a teenaged boy with spiky brown hair who was also currently wearing a labcoat, and the Professor's trusted assistant Tracey Sketchit, a young man with dark green hair dressed in a plain green shirt and red shorts. Gary was rubbing his head and gaping at the strange predicament his and his old rival's Pokemon were in with a disbelieving scowl, while Tracey was putting on a strained, awkward grin and scratching his cheek.

"Well... we don't know exactly what happened" Tracey began. In response to the Professor's raised eyebrow he elaborated "well, about ten minutes ago Oshawott was getting really worked up and prancing around with hearts in his eyes... I'm pretty sure he was crushing on Gary's new Sylveon he caught on his trip to Kalos, she's wandered off somewhere now"

"He picked up a bunch of flowers for her and I'm pretty sure he was trying to sweet talk her, but Sylveon just looked at him like he was a weirdo and nuzzled up to Umbreon" Gary continued, briefly grinning sheepishly at his Blastoise, who mistook the expression for amusement and glared furiously at his trainer. Gary shook his hands carefully at Blastoise and dropped his smile, facing his grandfather as he kept talking "Evidently Oshawott didn't like that and with the way he was pointing his scallop at Umbreon, I'm guessing he was challenging him to a battle. Umbreon couldn't care any less and just turned up his nose at him"

"Oshawott didn't want to give up though, so he started tackling every large Pokemon around him including Blastoise, Snorlax and Charizard. I'm guessing he thought he could impress Sylveon by making himself look tougher than them all in a battle" Tracey said, rubbing the top of his head as his eyes briefly glazed over. He let out a tired sigh "...and then Gary and I both turned around to try and break up a squabble between some of the grass types over an Apple... and when we looked again, Oshawott was stuck in Blastoise's cannon. We can't figure out what he could have done to get lodged there in a couple of seconds"

Professor Oak's right eye twitched "... Oh, that Oshawott... he's worse than Brock, honestly" The Professor sighed irritably, following up with a derisive laugh "Maybe I should ask to borrow Brock's Croagunk and have him keep watch on the little scamp. It would spare us so many headaches"

"OSHAWOTT! Osha, Osha Oshawott!" The little blue otter's furious cries echoed out as he tried and failed to push his head out of the cannon. Blastoise turned to look in the other direction from the trapped Unova starter, looking rather embarrassed by whatever it was he was saying.

Lined up in front of Blastoise were Ash's Bulbasaur, Charizard, Bayleef, Snivy and Corphish, all staring at the struggling body of their trapped teammate, the former three with varying levels of concern, Snivy with a tired scowl and a disapproving head shake, and Corphish was just laughing his head off at the whole thing.

"Bay" Bayleef said sadly, worriedly poking Oshawott's side with her vine whip. The plant dino puffed up her cheeks and shot an accusatory glare at Charizard, the big orange lizard flinching and stumbling backwards in response, rapidly shaking his claws and head and giving Bayleef a pleading look, silently begging her to accept he was innocent. Bayleef continued glaring at him for a few seconds, but eventually looked to accept Charizard wasn't at fault and went back to being concerned for her friend.

"And you say you can't pull him out then?" Professor Oak asked.

"Not at all. Half of Ash's Pokemon have already tried" Tracey answered, slapping the side of his head "If anything, I think we just got him stuck even worse... do you have Oshawott's Pokeball? It would really help"

"Muk thought it was one of those pokeball shaped cupcakes Delia bought for us and ate it" The Professor said bluntly, smirking fiercely at his assistant "You and Gary can try and retrieve it if you want, I'm not doing it"

Tracey and Gary's faces turned slightly purple, and they both turned up their heads in disgust at the suggestion.

"I... think I'll pass" Gary muttered, Tracey quickly nodding in agreement. Gary sighed wearily and looked up at the sky with a grouchy frown "And I tripped while holding Blastoise's pokeball and banged it up against Ash's Torterra earlier, that's gonna take a while to fix. So I can't return him to solve the problem either"

"What even are the odds?" Tracey blanked, watching as Oshawott was now using razor shell against the cannon he was caught in, seemingly trying to cut it in half, causing Blastoise to roar furiously at the otter and flail around to make him uncomfortable. Tracey scratched his chin "Should we call the Pokemon Centre in Viridian City for help, or do you think we can slip him out by rubbing melting butter around his neck?"

"I actually developed a special lubricant for these kinds of situations. I'll see if I can find it" The Professor replied, casually shrugging his shoulders as he began walking in the direction of his house across the large stretch of field. He raised a hand as he walked and called back "Just keep an eye on the situation, and see that Oshawott doesn't somehow get himself into even more trouble. I wouldn't actually put it past him at this point"

Gary watched his grandfather depart for a moment before slowly waltzing over to his starter Pokemon, who had ceased stamping around as Oshawott was now too dizzy to cause much of a fuss and was just looking downcast. The budding Pokemon researcher smiled softly at the big turtle and reached out to stroke his head.

"It'll be fine" Gary said gently. Blastoise whimpered slightly, and Gary moved his hand down to stroke his cheek "Gramps'll sort it out and everything will be fine, I promise"

Blastoise smiled weakly and leaned into his trainer's hand, nuzzling it and growling in a manner that reminded Gary of a purring Meowth kitten. Gary had to chuckle at how weirdly adorable it was.

Tracey walked up behind Gary, an approving smile etched across his face at the soft show of affection between trainer and Pokemon "Yeah, I'm sure Professor Oak will sort this out nice and easy"

The ground suddenly started to rumble, causing the two humans and assembled Pokemon to falter slightly before straightening themselves up. A loud snort rang out, and Gary, Tracey and Blastoise turned to see a whole herd of stampeding brown bulls with three tails heading their way. Eyes bulging in terror, Gary and Tracey swiftly leapt out of the way. Gary's Blastoise wasn't so quick to react and soon became obscured as the Tauros herd charged right through. When the last of the thirty bulls had charged past, Blastoise had completely disappeared from sight.

Gary and Tracey stared blankly at the space where the former's starter Pokemon had stood a moment ago, briefly at a loss for words. Charizard and Snivy raised their eyebrows and stared in bemusement, Corphish stopped laughing abruptly to slowly blink in the Tauros's direction, and Bulbasaur and Bayleef used vine whip to facepalm.

"... Correction, he'll sort this out nice and easy AFTER we rescue Blastoise from the throngs of Ash's Tauros. Which will most likely be very difficult" Tracey said bluntly, raising an index finger.

Gary let out a huge growl of frustration.

"... You see, this is why I don't visit as much these days... it's always one crazy incident after another with Ash's Pokemon, I swear..."

As Ash's old rival and traveling companion ran after the stampeding Tauros herd and tried formulating a plan to rescue the unwittingly kidnapped Blastoise and Oshawott, Professor Oak remained blissfully ignorant to their plight, just calmly strolling through the fields and observing all the Pokemon currently roaming around his ranch, a good majority of which belonged to Ash and his grandson.

The old man had a pleasant smile on his face the whole way to his house. Sometimes the Pokemon left in his care could really be a handful: This was probably the fifth time the past month that Ash's Oshawott had gotten himself into some kind of huge trouble.

But the Professor didn't mind all the craziness. In fact, he welcomed it, because it meant life at his ranch was hardly ever boring. Pokemon were his passion, and he was grateful to have lead a rich life of studying and interacting with them.

He really wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

_***Sootopolis** **City,** **Hoenn** **Region***_

The Wallace Cup was one of the most prestigious events in the world of Pokemon Co-ordinating. Founded by the now former Champion of the Hoenn region, Wallace of Sootopolis City, The Wallace Cup was a special annual Contest that called on Co-ordinators from every region where the sport of Pokemon Contests were held to compete against each other for the chance of earning a special ribbon that would count towards the five ribbons any Co-ordinator would need to earn in a year to compete in a Grand Festival, regardless of what region the Co-ordinator was competing in that year.

The ribbon itself was not what made the Wallace Cup a grand event, mind you. It was that it was always the best chance for Co-Ordinators from all over the world to meet up and show their skills against one another on one grand stage. So naturally, many Co-ordinators were in attendance.

For younger Co-Ordinators that had only competed in the Contest Circuits of a single region, the Wallace Cup was a good chance to get a taste of what kind of tricks and strategies Co-ordinators from other regions had up their sleeves, and gain an idea of which regions circuits they might want to branch out to next. For veteran Co-Ordinators, it was a chance to settle scores with old rivals, or else deliver a grand performance with their best rehearsed demonstrations and battle strategies, and let the whole world see how brightly they shined.

And for one young woman from Vaniville Town, it was her chance to put a year's worth of training to the test, and help her determine how far she still had to go to realize her dreams.

Serena of the Kalos region had not initially set out to be a Pokemon Co-Ordinator. And her long term goals did not revolve around Contests at all. Her home region had a different profession, similar to Pokemon Contests but without the battling aspect, known as Pokemon Showcases.

As a Pokemon Performer, she and others in her profession put on grand shows of spectacle and cheer with their partner Pokemon in order to bring smiles to and inspire the people of Kalos. The end goal of any Performer was to challenge the Master Class, the winner of which would earn a chance to compete for the coveted title of Kalos Queen against the current holder of that title, presently a brilliant and experience Performer named Aria.

Serena had won the Master Class her first time competing, bringing great pride to her friends and family, but had fallen short when faced against Aria herself. It had been a huge blow to Serena after all the hard work and emotion she'd invested in reaching that stage, but the experience and seeing how Aria performed and inspired people with her dazzling smile and grace had taught her much, and strengthened Serena's resolve to keep improving herself and put on performances that would bring heartfelt smiles to all the people in Kalos. As was the dream she'd settled upon during her journeys with Ash, Clemont and Bonnie.

Serena hadn't been sure how to approach that, at first. A famous producer who was once Kalos Queen herself, and Aria's current mentor, an elderly woman named Palermo, had offered to take Serena under her wing and train her to improve her skills to someday surpass Aria. But Serena had eventually decided to reject the offer, deciding it was important for her to improve her skills on her own and forge her own path to being Kalos Queen.

So instead, Palermo had given Serena the suggestion to travel to Hoenn and compete in Pokemon Contests, to learn new skills and experience how Co-Ordinators put on their own grand performances to hopefully help broaden Serena's skillset. Serena had accepted the challenge, and though it was hard to leave the wonderful friends she had made in Kalos behind to take on this new stage of her journey, she was determined to give it her all to realize her dream.

Serena had struggled initially with the more battle orientated aspect of contests. She was a decent battler herself, but never quite to the degree that Ash and Clemont were, and she missed the (Admittedly brief) Window of opportunity to compete in the previous Hoenn Grand Festival. But she was set on making it to the next one in the next few months, only needing to earn one more ribbon to compete.

Serena liked to think that she really had learned a lot since setting out on her own, for all the ups and downs her stint as a co-ordinator had brought her. But she refused to be satisfied with just being good: To truly be an inspiration, to be Kalos Queen, she had to be the best. So she had vowed to herself not to return to Kalos until she had won at least a single Grand Festival, and then pushed herself further than that to be the best Performer she could possibly be, someone that could actually dethrone Aria.

Hence why she jumped at the chance to enter the Wallace Cup, where great Co-ordinators from the World over gathered. It was just the chance she needed to determine how far she and her Pokemon had progressed, and put on a dazzling show to entertain and inspire viewers from all over the world.

She'd done a good job of it for the most part, she felt. Her and her starter Pokemon Braixen had killed it during the performance rounds, actually scoring in the top three, and Serena had now made it to the Semi-finals of the battle portion of the Wallace Cup.

Here's where she was stumbling a bit though.

Panting heavily and sweating bullets from sheer nerves, Serena glanced at the screen above the battle arena. In contest battles, both Co-ordinators started with a set number of points, and the goal of the battle was to land attacks on your opponents Pokemon, or otherwise counter their attacks in creative and visually interesting ways to knock points off the opponents score board, until their points were depleted, or until the timer ran out and the Co-ordinator with the most points was declared the winner.

Or you could just knock your opponents Pokemon out cold and it would count as an instant win, that worked too.

Currently in this semi-final match, there was about 1.30 minutes of time remaining. Serena was down to about a quarter of the points she started out with… while her opponent retained a bit more than two thirds of hers.

Clenching her teeth, Serena looked to her two competing Pokemon, Braixen and Pancham, who had both clearly taken damage with the latter even wobbling around a bit and struggling to stand. Her opponents Pokemon stood tall and proud several feet away, a fierce Blaziken and a graceful Glacion respectively. Serena stared pensively at the barely scratched Pokemon, then locked eyes with their trainer, a brown haired teenage girl just a bit younger than Serena herself dressed mostly in red, including the bandana that adorned her head.

Her opponent's name was May. She was an experienced Co-ordinator who had competed in contests in all four regions where it was formally held, starting here in her very home Region of Hoenn, then making her way through Kanto, Johto and Sinnoh. She'd made it to the finals of the Wallace Cup twice before, even winning her second time competing, which lead up to her first victory at a Grand Festival in Sinnoh.

May and Serena had met shortly before the Wallace Cup had begun and quickly became friends, Serena had even been introduced to another Co-ordinator May was close with named Dawn and befriended her too. By an amazing coincidence, Serena had learned right before the Wallace Cup began in earnest that both girls had travelled with and were close friends with Ash Ketchum, Serena's travel buddy in Kalos and long-time crush. It led to some interesting discussions.

And a bit of anxiety in the lead up to this current confrontation between her and May.

May was given the title "The Princess of Hoenn" by the judges of the International Contest Circuits: and it was a title she lived up to by being both a dazzling performer, and an amazing fighter.

May was a confident, excitable and passionate young woman who when faced with a challenge gave it everything she had with a fiery determination. She'd made short work of all her previous opponents thus far, showing everyone the results of years of training to stand among the Top Co-ordinators.

As was said, Serena was a good enough battler. And a year of competing in Contests had made her a borderline great one…

But faced up against someone like May, who had far more experience and well trained Pokemon than her… it was really helpful to Serena in averaging how large the gap was between her current self, and the person she needed to be to fulfil her dreams, was a good way to put it.

It wasn't even a shock to her anymore that May and her Blaziken had fought Ash and his Sceptile to a standstill right before they parted ways after their travels through Kanto.

Glancing at the timer on the screen ticking down fast, Serena heaved a heavy sigh and looked to the ground, downcast. Her hands trembled at her sides, and for a moment Serena lost herself in a rush of self-pity. She was promptly snapped out of it when Braixen and Pancham caught sight of Serena's worrying state and cried out to her, giving her fiery stares to prove they were still ready to go on no matter the odds.

It brought a smile to Serena's face. And with a clench of her fists, Serena stood tall once more. On her side of the arena, May smiled proudly at Serena, bracing herself for an exciting final bout. With a calming breath, Serena prepared to meet that challenge.

Maybe she couldn't win. Perhaps the Wallace Cup just wasn't meant to be her big break. But Serena would fight to the very end, to the best of her abilities, along with her beloved Pokemon. Whether she beat May or not, she would put on a great show, and learn from the experience, then carry on growing stronger and wiser through further challenges to reach her goals and be a person who could inspire others.

That's what Ash would do, after all.

So as the final minute of the semi-final match began, Serena tossed her arm forward and commanded her Braixen and Pancham to fight on with fire spin and dark pulse respectively, while May met the assault by having Blaziken launch a flamethrower while Glacion used blizzard.

The crowds gathered in the stadium of the Wallace Cup founder's home city gasped with amazement as the moves clashed before them. One blue haired teenage girl in particular who was a year younger than May, but no less talented, watched on with great anticipation, cheering for both of her competing friends.

"Piplup, pip!" Cheered the small blue penguin Pokemon in her arms.

"You said it, Piplup. Those two are amazing" Dawn said in a bubbly tone, nodding proudly. She was competing in the Wallace Cup too, and had already won her semi-final match. Whoever won the current clash would be her opponent in the finals. And while she'd first entered the Wallace Cup this year hoping for an exciting rematch with May, who she'd just barely managed to beat in their first battle against each other, after getting to know Serena and seeing the level of passion she put into everything, Dawn really couldn't decide who she wanted to face off against more now.

She would soon find out, as May's Blaziken and Serena's Braixen charged through the remnants of their clashing flames, ready to strike one another with all they had.

The roar of the crowd grew deafening in that moment.

* * *

_***Ventress** **City,** **Unova** **Region***_

At the Northern most point of the Unova Region resided Ventress City, the seat of the Unova Elite Four, where the annual League Tournaments and other major battles connected to the League were held.

This year's Pokemon League Tournament was officially a long way off... but an equally exciting contest had been taking place in the main stadium the League was typically held that drew an equal, if not greater than average level of hype and enthusiasm from the citizens of Unova.

Two months ago, the long reigning and beloved Grand Champion of the Unova Region, Alder, had announced to the shock of the nation that he was finally planning to retire. Purportedly he'd been considering it for a while, but had recently decided after recovering from a stroke that he'd like to step back from all the serious duties that came with being the Regional Champion and that he wished to dedicate more time to simply travelling around, appreciating the beauty and wonder of the world (And also, those close to Alder joked, it was likely he wanted to try harder to score some more hot dates before he kicked the bucket).

Normally a new Champion would be decided by a winner of an annual League Tournament defeating the Regions Elite Four and then the reigning champion themself in the Champions League. In the event a Champion decided to step down or died without being ousted from their position the normal way, a member of the Elite Four was typically promoted to Champion status.

However, as none of the current Elite Four seemed particularly interested in the promotion, a different method had been decided on to determine Alder's replacement as Champion:

A special festival would be held where trainers who had reached at least the semi-finals of a previous Unova League Tournament, or were in the Ultra Class of the Pokemon World Championships, would get to forgo the usual proceedings and challenge the Elite Four and Alder to a series of battles. First to make it to Alder and either beat or tie with him was crowned the new Champion.

The festival had been going on for about six weeks now. So far only two previous challengers had even managed to defeat three of the Elite Four: Virgil, a previous League winner who used a Team comprised entirely of Evolutions of Eevee, plus one unevolved Eevee. And Trip, from Nuvema Town, who had made it to the finals of the previous Tournament but lost to a man named Tobias. Both of them had lost to the fourth member of the Elite Four, Marshall, though they still put on a good fight.

It was looking to some that a new Champion might not be decided for months, if at all given the circumstances... so you can imagine everyone's surprise two days ago when a new challenger, one who had never even competed in the Unova League before and only qualified for the Champion Festival for being ranked #79 in the Pokemon World Championships, actually managed to defeat Marshall after overcoming the other three members of the Elite Four, winning the right to challenge the Champion.

To say nothing of the excitement in the air at the present time after that challenger's fifth Pokemon, a very grouchy looking and temperamental but ultimately loyal Dragonite, managed to scrape by with a hard-earned victory against Alder's Volcarona, whittling the reigning Champion down to just his signature Pokemon Bouffalant.

Let's just say it was a couple of minutes before the deafening barrage of cheers in the stadium had calmed down enough for a certain trio of onlookers to even be able to comment even while raising their voices.

"I have to say, she's doing amazingly well!" Called out Cress, a young man with blue hair that obscured his right eye who was dressed in a waiters outfit, and happened to be one of three Gym Leaders who simultaneously ran the Straiton City Pokemon Gym.

"I know, right?!" Yelled back Cress's red haired brother who wore a similar outfit to him. The most hot headed of the three Straiton Gym Leaders, Chile bluntly spoke his mind on the situation "I just can't believe this is happening... I knew she was good, I've seen her in Tournaments before and she always seemed capable... but how the heck did she get this good in like two years?! That feels unnatural!"

That statement got the third brother, the wayward third Gym Leader who had only recently returned to the Unova Region after some travels abroad for the sake of a reunion with the friend currently engaged in battle, to let out a low, slightly smug chuckle.

"It's not so unbelievable" The green haired Straiton sibling said, proudly looking down at the dark skinned girl with absurdly long purple hair standing at the Challengers end of the ring.

Cilan placed a hand dramatically against the side of his head "Iris may have been young and brash on her travels through Unova with Ash and I, but she was always skilled. She just needed to get a better grasp of connecting with others and understanding the feelings of her Pokemon. I'd say she had a pretty good grasp of both by the time we all parted ways, so it's no surprise to me that she's come so far"

"You really have a lot of confidence in her, don't you" Cress said. Cilan scratched his chin and grinned.

"I once saw her jump on the back of a rampaging Hydreigon and hug the neck of its middle head while the other two were biting her in an effort to calm it down" Cilan said, much to the shock of his siblings "Iris can be immature and sometimes short-sighted, but when she puts her mind to something she always gives it a hundred percent. She's a bit like Ash, in that way. These last two years she's been completely dedicated to bettering herself and becoming a Dragon Master, so why shouldn't I be confident?"

"Okay so she's dedicated and trains hard... but what does becoming Champion have to do with being a Dragon Master?" Chile asked, raising an eyebrow. Cilan shrugged.

"That I don't know. You can ask her later" He replied simply. Chile shrugged indifferently while Cress turned back to the battlefield, staring at the exhausted Dragonite that seemed to be trying to argue with his trainer against being returned to his ball. Iris was lightly scolding him over it, coming off a bit like a mother who'd long gotten used to raising an unruly child. Eventually Dragonite seemed to relent.

"That Dragonite seems like a real handful, honestly" Cress noted "From what I've heard Dragonite are typically calm and obedient, but that Pokemon seems punch-happy and impatient. I'm surprised it followed her orders as well as it did, the way it kept going for openings on its own volition towards the start"

"Oh yes, Dragonite's always been kind of like that. Almost zero patience" Cilan said, scratching his head and recalling its performances at the Junior Cup "When Iris first caught it, Dragonite wouldn't listen to a word she said half the time, and even after gaining his trust and respect he would still do things like pick fights with random Dragon Pokemon that crossed his path. It's just the way he is I suppose, but he's gotten better at listening to Iris for the most part and she's flexible enough to work around his take charge moments"

Cilan noticed Chile staring suspiciously at him for a moment and craned his head, looking oddly at him "Is something wrong?"

Chile blinked and shook his head, grinning awkwardly "Oh... nothing. I'm just kind of surprised you didn't go all "It's evaluation time" there to explain all that, and how it relates to the way that battle just played out" He frowned curiously and looked even more suspiciously at Cilan "Come to think of it, I don't recall you "Evaluating" much of anything for her last four battles either. What gives? You're never that restrained"

Cilan chuckled, closing his eyes as he casually leaned back in his seat "Oh, I'm saving that for after she wins. I was going to do a big presentation of it for her inauguration"

Cress and Chile blinked slowly at their brother. Turning to face each other, the still currently active Gym Leaders exchanged awkwardly amused grins and chuckled.

"Sure, because the League's totally going to let you dork it up like that during a live broadcast of a national event" Chile laughed "And you're assuming a lot there. What are you gonna do if she gets clobbered by Bouffalant?"

Cilan didn't respond, just quietly opening his eyes and eagerly waiting for the battle to continue.

On the ground floor of the arena, Alder was scratching the back of his head and watching Iris finally return her Dragonite. He let out a hearty chuckle.

"Well Iris, I must say this is the most exciting battle I've had this year outside of the Masters 8 tournament!" Alder called out to the budding Dragon Master, who grinned widely and waved gratefully at him.

"Glad I can make it fun for you!" Iris called back. Alder kept chuckling for a bit, and then put on a curious frown.

"I feel compelled to ask, though... why do you wish to claim my title?" Alder inquired. Iris cocked her head to the right, staring uncertainty at the Champion, who smiled meekly and stroked his mane of red hair "Just curious... the few times we've met before you seemed competitive, but as I understand it you've never took part in a Gym Challenge. And what Drayden and the Elder from the Village of Dragons tell me is that your goal in life is to be a Dragon Master and understand Dragon types better"

Alder shrugged casually "At this point there's a good chance I'm going to be officially setting a date for my retirement party by the end of the day. So I just thought I might ask what this all means for you, personally" Alder watched Iris scratch her head and look away from him, shifting her feet nervously, and so softly added "No need to answer that right away, perhaps I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that"

The girl who knew the hearts of Dragons twirled a finger through her long stretch of purple hair, carefully considering how to phrase her answer. Her lip quivered, and she let out a frustrated sigh.

With an awkward laugh and an innocent grin she began "Well... it's kind of a long story..." She bit her lip, deciding to just get on with it "I entered the Pokemon World Championships a year ago... it was after I had a rematch with Clair at Blackthorn City, and managed to beat her and her Druddigan in a battle that time. We ended up talking about Lance of the Kanto Elite Four afterwards and how he and Clair trained together... and it got me wanting to battle him too"

"Lance is often called the world's greatest Dragon Master, so I always knew I wanted to meet him and maybe understand and command Dragon Pokemon the way he does" Iris explained "I've learned so much more about Dragon Pokemon the last couple of years... and I know I've got many years of hard work ahead of me before I can be called a Master... but I thought, maybe all the training and hard work I'd have to put in with the ones I've caught so far to reach the Masters Eight to battle him would be a good step forward"

"Even if I didn't beat him... and I still don't know if I can, honestly... I thought it would be a good motivation to push myself further and put everything I've learned on my journeys to the test, you know?" Iris said impishly. Alder slowly nodded, an amused smirk forming on his face.

"Lance is rank two in the Masters eight, and I'm the eighth" Alder said thoughtfully, crossing his arms and giving the short teen a knowing look "Bet you thought you might claim my spot there so you could hopefully battle with Lance at the end of the season, then?"

Iris recoiled, laughing nervously as a large bead of sweat formed on the side of her head "Well... yeah, pretty much..." Iris abruptly stopped laughing, eyes narrowing as she kicked the ground "Kinda threw me for a loop when you announced you were retiring, with all the work I put into strategies to battle you..."

Iris twirled her fingers anxiously, the massive crowd in the stadium watching and listening intently and the fact the battle going on was being filmed for National television suddenly weighed very heavily on her.

"I didn't think to challenge you for the position of Champion at first. I was only training to battle you as a stepping stone to Lance... but I figured... well, I didn't want that training to go to waste completely... and battling the Elite Four too sounded like a great way to see where I stack up... so... and, I... uh"

Iris trailed off, staring at the ground and looking very embarrassed. Alder gave her a minute to continue, then shook his head and chuckled lightly.

"Basically, you took this challenge on a whim, then?" Alder asked with some amusement.

Iris's head shot up as a panicked expression overtook her face. She laughed nervously, painfully aware of how much the crowds in the stadium had quieted down in the last few minutes.

"Well... yeah, sort of..." Iris began. She struggled to speak afterwards, craning her head to the right to observe the towering figure of a buff white haired man with a very uniquely styled beard that obscured his entire mouth watching her from the front row of the stands. Drayden of Opelucid city watched Iris with crossed arms and an unreadable expression on his face. Iris sighed quietly and turned away from him, taking a quick breath before adding "At least.. at first..."

Alder raised an eyebrow at the girl, his interest peaked as he gently motioned for her to continue.

Iris considered her next few words carefully for a moment "You know... when I first met Dragonite, it was causing a ruckus at a power plant near Undella Town. Officer Jenny and the plant workers thought it was dangerous and a rogue menace... he's a bit punch happy, sure, but he didn't mean to cause any harm really. He got injured defending a flock of Pidove from an attack by a wild Hydreigon, and he crashed into the plant. He only got aggressive because the plant workers kept provoking him and trying to chase him off, when he just wanted to rest and recover"

Iris stared wistfully at Dragonite's pokeball, a weak smile on her face "The guards didn't really have much sympathy for Dragonite. Even when Ash tried to explain it was injured, they kept rushing to remove him by force. Everyone kept assuming the worst of him just because he looked dangerous and scary"

Iris' grip on the pokeball tightened "That's not an uncommon sort of reaction, I've noticed. Dragon type Pokemon are pretty rare, so most people don't really have a lot of experience with them or understand them very well... and not everyone seems to try to. Many people assume they're brutes just because a lot of them look intimidating and scary to them. But they're not... some of them can be aggressive, sure, but that's the same for any other kind of Pokemon. They can also be friendly, sweet and good natured if you just take the time to get to know them"

Alder hummed thoughtfully at Iris as she paused for a long moment. Eventually she shook her head and looked at Alder intently "As the Champion, a lot of people look up to and are inspired by you, right? People come to you from all over the region for advise, because you're such an accomplished trainer"

"That's true. I do enjoy sharing a few nuggets of wisdom here and there" Alder nodded. With a cheeky smile and a scratch of his arm he added "I don't know if I'm always that good at it, though. I sure seem to have done a poor job conveying my message to Tristan the first time around, haha"

"I've seen you give some pretty good advise, though" Iris said nicely. She furrowed her brow, looking self-reflective "... My whole life I wanted to be a dragon master... to know all there is to know about Dragon types, and be able to raise them to bring out their full potential. But I didn't... I realized recently, I never thought too hard about what I'm going to do after I become a master..."

Iris pocketed Dragonite's pokeball, tapping her chin thoughtfully "But after I beat Grimsley, and was thinking about what would actually happen if I did become Champion... I thought to myself... why not try and pass on what I've learned about Dragon types, and Pokémon in general, to others like you do? If I were someone the people of Unova looked to for guidance, then that would give me the perfect opportunity to help people understand that there's a lot more to dragon Pokémon than what people assume about them"

Alder nodded approvingly at Iris, motioning her to continue. She glanced at Drayden again, flashing him a brief smile before adding "Drayden apparently wanted me to take over for him as a Gym Leader at one point, and I did think that would be pretty amazing. And I'd get to show off and educate people about dragon types as a Gym Leader too... but you know, I think I could do an even better job of that as a Champion"

Iris paused again, then stuck her tongue out and slapped the side of her head "But then again... maybe that's all just me getting ahead of myself. Maybe I just feel kind of selfish for taking this test to be Champion when I just rushed into it for my own training benefits, and I want to think of an excuse to justify myself. I know being a Champion comes with a lot of responsibilities and hard work besides just being a really strong trainer, and I'm probably not prepared for a lot of that"

Alder looked at Iris with a fatherly smile, crossing his arms and closing his eyes before saying "You don't sound terribly selfish to me"

Iris's face went blank, which Alder had to laugh at after briefly peeking open his right eye "How many people who challenge the League, even the ones who gain access to the Champions League, do you think actually consider the responsibilities of being a Champion and what it means? It's not a lot, really. Most trainers just want the title for the fame and glory that comes with it. Everyone has their own personal and self-centric aspirations in life, even the most generous people... I never thought there was anything inherently selfish about that, just so long as you're not callously trampling over others to fulfil whatever those ambitions are"

Alder opened his eyes again completely to examine Iris's confused stare. Chuckling under his breath, the Champion continued "Maybe you didn't have a deep, heartfelt motivation to become champion when you arrived at this festival... but you've clearly put more thought than many would into the significance of the job, and how your own dreams and aspirations can play into it"

"And maybe you're not entirely ready for all of the responsibilities that come with the job... neither was I really" Alder admitted, prompting a surprised gasp from Iris "But life is a constant learning experience... no-one is born with a clear understanding of what they want to do, or has all the answers when they settle on a life's goal. We figure that out along the way. I'm still learning myself"

"You're young. You've got many years left to grow into a wise Dragon Master, into someone that can inspire and educate others. Maybe you'll trip up and struggle as a Champion at first, but if you commit yourself you'll grow into the role eventually" Alder said, giving Iris an encouraging thumbs up "Bettering other people's understanding of Pokemon as well as my own, and encouraging compassion and unity between us all has been my dream since I took the job. So if you ask me, wanting to help the people of Unova grow closer to Dragon type Pokemon and not fear them as much is a great goal to have as Champion. I think you'd do very well... that Dragonite of yours would probably agree, from the looks of it anyway"

Iris stared contemplatively at Alder for a long time after that, mouth slightly ajar. She closed her eyes and put a finger to her chin, carefully mulling over everything the elderly trainer had just said to her. She smiled sweetly, and breathed a low sigh of vindication.

"Thank you. That... means a lot, honestly"

Iris flashed her teeth, now sporting a confident smirk "In that case... I guess..." Iris opened her eyes again to reveal the fiery determination now burning within them "... I'd better do everything I possibly can to prove you right!"

In the stands, Drayden of the Opelucid Gym un-crossed his arms and stroked his beard, nodding slowly. He turned to the hooded elderly woman standing beside him, who started back at Drayden with a gentle smile. They both closed their eyes and shared a quiet, knowing laugh before returning their attentions to the battlefield, watching Iris with eyes full of pride.

Alder looked at Iris at first with a similar expression, but his smile quickly changed to an amused smirk "Well said.. buuuut, at the same time, you're not Champion just yet. We've both still got one battle ready Pokemon left. And while I very much want out of the job, I still have no intention of losing this battle on purpose. How cheap would that be?"

Iris chuckled mischievously, pumping her fist in the old man's direction "Well in that case, maybe we should stop yapping for a minute and bring it to a close!"

"Well said" Alder laughed, pulling a pokeball from his belt. He pitched it expertly "Bouffalant, my friend, come out! Let's show everyone a grand time!"

The crowds in the stadium erupted in cheers once more as the afro-sporting buffalo that served as Alder's signature partner appeared on the battlefield, snorting impressively. Iris lower her fist, eyes still blazing with excitement as she turned around.

"Ready to show everyone just how far we've come?!" Iris asked of the tall, yellow armor-plated Dragon type who had been silently crouching down by the wall behind Iris and watching the battle between his trainer and the Unova Champion from the start while eagerly awaiting his turn.

The Dragon with axe-like tusks responded to Iris with a confident smile and nod, a gleam of child-like enthusiasm in his eyes. Iris giggled at her partner as he shot up and charged out onto the battlefield, introducing himself to all present with a thunderous roar that drowned out ever the screams of the audience.

Back when Iris travelled through Unova and Alder first came to know the girl from the village of dragons, her partner had been a sweet, precocious, timid little Axew. And now today, he stood proudly before on stage, for all of Unova to see, as a mighty Haxorus.

Iris and Alder exchanged quick, competitive smirks, and wasted no time calling out their first attacks.

"Haxorus, use Outrage!"

"Bouffalant, use Head Charge!"

* * *

_***The** **Pokemon** **School,** **Melemele** **Island.** **Alola** **Region***_

It was a pretty quiet afternoon at the Pokemon school. Following a long discussion on the ethics of catching rare species of Pokemon, Professor Kukui's class of top students elected to spend the second part of their lunch hour practising Z-moves, while the Professor eagerly peaked over the tops of several homework assignments he still had to mark to watch.

Kiawe had acquired a Ghostium-Z Crystal following an Ultra Guardian mission involving a Mismagius leading a squad of ghost Pokemon in playing a series of dangerous pranks on townsfolk. So naturally given Kiawe had a Marowak that knew shadow bone, the young Kahuna in training had immediately set out to master the Never-ending Nightmare technique.

He was doing fairly well. Kiawe had the poses for the ghost-type Z move memorized after a couple of tries. And while the first few attempts at the Z move had fizzled out part way through, Kiawe kept at it and with his latest attempt, Marowak had successfully cast an Illusionary field around the center of the school yard. His classmates and many other students of the Pokemon school watching oohed and aahed at the sight of it, and when the mists cleared to reveal a training dummy smashed into pieces Lana, Mallow and Sophocles all clapped loudly, triggering a round of applause from their fellow students and assembled Pokemon.

Professor Kukui gave the dark skinned youth an approving smirk as behind him Principal Samson Oak, the less famous cousin of the Kantonian Professor who bore a remarkable resemblance to him apart from the much darker complexion of his skin, broke out in a hearty laugh.

"Doesn't take Kiawe long to master those Z-moves, does it? Kids a natural at them, I'd say you're the only person I know who takes to them quicker" Principal Oak commented.

Kukui scribbled a B+ on Mallow's homework assignment with his red pen and placed it on a stack of graded papers to his left on the bench he was sitting on, grabbing the last remaining three sheets of paper sitting to his right that Sophocles had presented before responding to his employer "Kiawe's always been passionate and dedicated to Alolan traditions and his training. I don't think a day ever goes by where he's not practising Z-moves even though he's successfully performed the ones he's mastered a million times. So is it really any surprise?"

"I guess not!" Samson Oak chuckled "The lad's probably going to make a fine Kahuna. A real MAchamp in the making!" Samson's face abruptly morphed into the splitting image of the muscle bound Pokemon Machamp's face for a brief instant coinciding with the pointless pun, right down to the distinct shape of Machamp's lips.

Kukui was thankfully well accustomed to his colleague's random and pointless puns at this point in his teaching career so fortunately didn't show any visible discontent over that eccentricity, but despite his continued fascination with the Principal's almost ditto-esque talent for Pokemon impressions, the puns themselves still made the Professor desperately want to cringe.

Samson suddenly poked Kukui's shoulder and pointed at something "Heads up Professor, you seem to have a visitor"

Kukui raised an eyebrow, his eyes following the direction Samson's finger was pointed to see a woman with brown skin and spiky white hair approaching, an infant carefully cradled in her arms while a handbag hung from her shoulder.

Samson gave the Professor a cheeky grin that was slightly more unnerving than his puns and casually spun around on one foot and began strolling away "I'll just leave you two Luvdiscs alone for a moment. Gotta go sort out some guest speaker appointments anyway"

Kukui shook his head in a playful manner set Sophocles' homework assignment aside and rose to his feet, greeting the love of his life with the warmest smile he could possibly give.

"My, my, if it isn't the smartest and most beautiful woman in all of Alola!" Kukui declared, raising his arms dramatically "Praytell, what good deed must I have performed to warrant such a delightful surprise?"

Professor Burnet giggled, giving her husband a sly grin.

"A careless blunder, is more like it" She laughed, gesturing to the handbag "You forgot your lunch again"

Kukui blinked at the bag. The tanned Professor facepalmed, laughing sheepishly.

"I thought I was forgetting something" Kukui said "I was so focused on getting these homework assignments out of my hair I hadn't thought to eat yet... thank goodness you came by, I'm pretty sure by now the only thing left at the cafeteria would be that awful mystery meat..."

Burnet giggled some more before holding the baby in her arms towards her husband. Baby Lei laughed loudly and gleefully started throwing his arms and legs about, enjoying the feeling of being suspended in the air.

Kukui grinned at his precious child, feeling a tad more proud than he reasonably should have been that the lad seemed to have inherited the boundless energy he himself purportedly had as a little kid according to his own parents. Kukui kneeled down so that he was eye level with his son, who suddenly stopped laughing to stare curiously at his face.

"Actually awake this late in the afternoon today, are we? That's nice, now maybe mom and I won't have to wake up every hour during the night for a change" Kukui joked. Baby Lei giggled at him, which quickly evolved into a renewed chorus of excited laughter as the baby reached out to his father, who chuckled affectionately before scooping the infant into his arms, standing upright to raise Lei into the air momentarily before holding the baby down closer to his face. Lei laughed even louder and started patting his father's cheeks.

Burnet cooed softly at the wholesome display as she set her handbag down on the bench besides her husband, opening it up to pull out his lunchbox. Kukui looked past his son's beaming face to watch Burnet with a look of deep admiration.

It soon changed into a curious frown, and he held Lei against his chest to say "Okay, serious mode for a sec, what actually are you doing here? I was sure by now you'd be at Aether Paradise, while Lei here would be with Hobbes"

"I was just about to head out this morning actually, when Wicke suddenly called to tell me work was cancelled today for anyone who hadn't already arrived" Burnet replied, rolling her eyes and laughing awkwardly "... Apparently Faba blew up the labs..."

Kukui balked at her "... What?! How'd he manage that?!" Burnet shrugged innocently.

"I dunno, something about him getting a hold of some Galar particles thinking they were somehow the key to controlling that machine for opening Ultra Worm holes, and it all went horribly wrong. Burned off all his hair, apparently" Burnet said, giggling lightly at the last bit "So yeah, Wicke called some people in to do repairs, and decided most of the staff could have at least today off. She and the early birds are all looking after the Pokémon"

Kukui held Lei carefully against his chest with one arm so he could quickly scratch his head with the other "Good grief, that Faba... it's one disaster after another with that guy. I'll never understand why Lusamine hasn't fired him. Even more so Wicke hasn't done it while she and her family are away"

"It's a mystery. He certainly got a good telling off for it, according to Wicke Rotom-Dex yelled at him so loud he was in tears by the end" Burnet said with a devious smirk. Kukui laughed as he lowered his right hand to properly hold his son in front of him again.

"Wish I'd been there to see that" The professor said cheerfully. The married couple exchanged devious grins and laughed loudly over the stingy scientist's misfortune, Lei looking at them oddly before gleefully joining in. After the adults had calmed down, Kukui breathed a cool sigh and seriously asked "No one but Faba was hurt, I hope?"

"Nope, we just lost a lot of expensive equipment" Burnet said, shaking her head "... Good thing Lusamine's insanely rich, I guess. But yeah, everything's fine, so I've just been enjoying the improv vacation walking around town with Lei. That Bewear from the forest saw us and begged to cradle him, and I'm pretty sure she wanted to adopt him like she did with Team Rocket, but I gave her a stern lecture against it. I get the feeling she's going to be visiting with gifts regularly though, I noticed an enormous pile of berries on the porch when I got home right before I found your lunchbox lying around in the kitchen"

Kukui smiled impishly at his still laughing son "Between Melmetal, Munchlax, both Incineroar's and mine and Ash's other Pokemon, you have way too many poke-nannies already..."

A lough cough caught the two professors' attention, and they turned to see Mallow standing nearby, looking at them with a worried frown on her face.

"Uh, Professor. I hate to interrupt, but, uh..." Mallow said, shuffling awkwardly. She noticed Lei in Kukui's arms staring at her with a goofy smile and her expression quickly turned doting and she waved affectionately at the infant, looking like she might squeal. Peeking up to see the look the father was giving her though, she shook her head and tried to look serious again "... I'm pretty sure you have more visitors..."

Kukui followed the finger of the hand Mallow held out to see a large gang of Team Skull grunts performing some kind of brake dance in front of the entrance to the school yard. At least two at them, one at either end of the line-up, were riding on motorcycles, revving loudly in an effort to look impressive.

Kukui raised an eyebrow suspiciously. He looked around at his students, who had all ceased their Z-move training to glare at the uninvited guests. Lana and Kiawe in particular looked like they were gearing up for a fight. Kukui sighed and carefully handed Lei back to his mother.

"I guess I better do something about that" Kukui said calmly.

Burnet shook her head distastefully at the goon squad, holding her son protectively "I wonder what those idiots want this time?"

"I have a few ideas" Kukui muttered, casually strolling over to stand in front of the Skull Grunts. He actually wasn't as annoyed or concerned as he usually would be with their presence, he'd been meaning to get in touch with them about something. Or more specially, he wanted to have a few words with their esteemed leader.

And wow, as luck would have it, said leader was revealed to be along for the show, as the Skull Grunt line up parted in the middle and formed two rows in front of the archway leading into the Pokémon school. The Skull Grunts performed one of their signature terrible raps in honour of their white haired master, hyping him up as "The most powerful, the wicked, the foulest, the unstoppable Guzma!"

Kukui chuckled under his breath over that last word choice, though the Skull boss raised his hands and seemed to be revelling in the grunts admiration of him as he casually strolled into the yard. He lowered his arms and placed his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he passed the rows of grunts, stopping a few feet away from Kukui. The professor crossed his arms and stared at his old friend with a neutral expression.

"You know, classes start up again in just over ten minutes. If you guys are going to keep marching in here every so often, maybe I should give you a time table so we don't have to worry about your visits cutting into lesson times" Kukui said dryly.

Guzma laughed mirthlessly at the wise crack, eyeing Kukui with a steely look in his eyes. Kukui rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but what do you want this time, Guzma?"

"If you're hear to cause trouble, we'll send you all packing Team Rocket style! Except Bewear probably won't catch you!" Lana suddenly called out, glaring dangerously at the team of delinquents. Kukui felt like telling her to simmer down, but decided to let it slide. It was understandable she'd be like that around Team Skull, given her history with the team.

Guzma for his part paid no mind at all to his opponent from the league, keeping his eyes locked on Kukui. His attention was briefly diverted by the baby in the nearby Professor Burnet's arms, though, at whom he raised an eyebrow and curiously cocked his head. Burnet shot him a warning look, but baby Lei just blinked slowly at the white haired gang leader, eventually giving him one of his usual laughs. Guzma looked mildly amused by it.

"I'm guessing that's the new baby I've heard so much about" Guzma observed, giving Kukui a sly grin "He's got the same obnoxiously goofy grin as that other kid of yours"

"I'd be very happy if he turned out anything like Ash" Kukui said simply, waving his hand "So, are you going to answer my question?"

"Feh" Guzma huffed, shaking his head. He shot Kukui a smug smirk "I don't know if you heard, but I decided recently to take up the Grand Trials again"

Kukui nodded, a slight smile forming on his face.

"Actually yes, Hala was telling me all about it" Kukui replied, chuckling and giving Guzma a proud look "The way I heard in fact, you just completed the last one yesterday... gotta say Guzma, I'm very happy for you. I always knew you could do it if you just swallowed your pride, gave them another try and focused a little"

"Oh did you, now?" Guzma said, shaking his head and smirking deviously. Behind him, the Skull grunts suddenly started cheering wildly.

"Our boy Guzma was a beast! Beat that last Kahuna on his first try!" A squat, brown haired grunt called out, holding up his hands and forming two peace signs.

"The Trials are tough, but the boss was tougher! It don't matter how many times he stumbles, Boss Guzma always gets back up and rises to the challenge! That's why he's unstoppable!" A pink haired girl from the other row cheered, prompting them all to start clapping and cheer louder. Guzma shrugged casually, closing his eyes and smiling appreciatively at the praise.

'I see Guzma no longer being able to carry on the "Undefeated" façade did nothing to temper their enthusiasm. If anything, they seem to love him even more now' Kukui mentally noted, to some amusement.

Once the rest of team skull finally quieted down and Guzma opened his eyes again, Kukui shrugged and asked "So, is that it? Did you just come here to gloat?"

Guzma shook his head, staring intently into Kukui's eyes "I'm here to settle the score"

Kukui nodded cautiously, prompting Guzma to elaborate, which he did "You said back at the League, you and I should battle at the next one... well, I don't feel like waiting. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now, so I want put the results of all my hard work to the real test. Call out that overgrown kitten of yours and let's battle. Right here, right now"

Kukui nodded slowly, stroking his chin thoughtfully and starting deeply into Guzma's eyes.

Kukui and Guzma had been friends years ago, fellow disciples training under Hala, the Kahanu of Melemele Island. The two were also rivals, and took part in the Island Challenge together.

Guzma was always an impatient, insecure and somewhat cynical man though, unfortunately. Kukui was always one step ahead of him, and though he never realized it at the time, the fact Kukui always seemed to beat him in Pokemon battles, and pretty much anything else they competed in, had really exacerbated Guzma's personal hang ups, eventually driving a wedge between them.

One night, following a string of bad failures in his attempts to complete the Island Grand Trials, Guzma had snapped at Kukui and Hala and got into a nasty argument with them, ultimately severing his ties with the Kahuna and storming out into the night, abandoning the Island Challenge.

Kukui had desperately tried to reach out to Guzma many times over the years, but the resentful man always furiously turned him away. Over time he became more and more of a delinquent, basically bullying any trainer who was weaker than him while carefully making excuses to duck out of conflicts he wasn't entirely sure he could win.

Kukui always blamed himself for it, feeling ashamed he hadn't seen just how deep the man's insecurity and resentment ran, desperately wishing he'd reached out and tried to help him through it before it spiralled out of control.

Perhaps because of the veneer of confidence Guzma's boastful, proud attitude gave off, other social outcasts had been consistently drawn to him. Those delinquents formed Team Skull, who proudly served and stirred up trouble for Guzma out of admiration for taking them in while others were put off by them and shunned them. The legend of their "Unbeatable" boss was something they all took great pride in"

But while Guzma seemed to enjoy the company and the praise the Skull members all showered him with, having his own personal cheering squad clearly did nothing to quell the bitterness and insecurity that festered in him.

After Kukui had announced the formation of The Alola Pokemon League, Guzma had stormed the Pokemon School and threatened to "Destroy" it. After a scuffle with Ash, Guzma elected to take part in the league, both as an ego boost and seemingly as a ploy to use the clout of being Alola's Champion to have further league tournaments shut down. His idea of revenge against Kukui, who's dream had been to establish a Pokemon League here in his home region.

It was at the League though, and a fateful battle with Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, that something finally seemed to change.

Kukui couldn't really pin down what it was. Maybe it was the way his Golizopod kept getting up and fighting with all it had despite being repeatedly shot down and backed into a corner by Ash's Pikachu, proudly pushing past its limits for the sake of its trainer. Perhaps it was the way the rest of Team Skull still admired and stood by him even though he still lost the battle, and Guzma could no longer maintain the lie of being undefeated.

Maybe it was both of those things, and something more. But on that day, Kukui sensed that something had changed in Guzma. And everything the Skull boss did after the League ended only appeared to confirm those suspicions.

Team Skull gradually stopped harassing people and causing much trouble, with it eventually coming out that Guzma was encouraging them to behave more respectfully.

Three months ago, Guzma had shown up at Hala's door, and though he had purportedly been rather grouchy about it, he had sincerely requested the opportunity to take part in the Grand Trials again. And despite losing a battle to Nanu along the way... this time, he didn't quit.

The last time Guzma stood before Kukui here in the yard of the Pokemon School there had been a burning hatred in his eyes... but try as he might, Kukui could find no trace of the brutal, resentful ruffian in the eyes of the man that stood before him in the present.

This was not a thug looking to stir up trouble, or get back at someone they held a grudge against... Those were the eyes of a man who had been made to confront his demons, and overcame them. And was now just looking for closure.

Kukui couldn't help but feel his heart soar at that.

He owed the boy he had come to view as a surrogate son more than he could ever describe for inspiring that change. Well, he owed him for that and a lot of things, including his marriage and the child in Burnet's arms right now, most likely.

"... Well?! Are you gonna fight me, or just stare at me all day?!"

Guzma's words snapped the Professor out of his thoughts. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Kukui glanced back at the crowd of students still cautiously watching the discussion between their teacher and the delinquent team leader, then offered Guzma a meek shrug.

"Like I said, class starts up again soon so I don't really have time. I'd be glad to battle you when the school day ends, though" Kukui suggested.

Guzma rolled his eyes "If you're so worried about your precious lessons, then I'll just beat you in two minutes. No big deal" Guzma insisted. To his credit, he said it in a playfully sarcastic tone rather than an aggressive manner.

Kukui shrugged "I just-"

"We don't mind, Professor!" A voice called out. Kukui turned around to look curiously at Kiawe, who had stepped forward to strike a dramatic pose "I think I speak for all of us when I say a battle between you two would be well worth the lost time... and, uh, very educational for all of us!"

The other students all seemed to nod and murmur in agreement. Kukui scratched his head and smiled awkwardly at them all, realizing how outnumbered he was. Technically as the main teacher of the Pokémon school he had full authority here and could always insist everyone go back inside and just politely push Guzma to leave... buuuut, Kukui couldn't deny that the thought of a no-holds-barred clash with his old rival was already getting his blood pumping.

And hey, this was a school to teach students about Pokémon training and battles, after all... so Kiawe wasn't wrong, he probably could find a way to make this educational...

Kukui chuckled, shaking his head and cursing his sudden lack of professionalism.

"Oh, alright... I suppose I could use a good work out myself" Kukui said with a cheeky grin.

Guzma grinned wickedly, pulling out a Pokéball "Good"

Professor Burnet sighed from the sidelines, sitting down on the bench next her handbag and Kukui's unopened lunchbox and shaking her head in amusement. She tickled baby Lei's cheek "Well, aren't you a lucky boy today. You're gonna get to see your dad in action for the first time"

Kukui walked up to stand before his line-up of students to leave a good distance for the unplanned battle. When he turned around again, the towering figure of Guzma's Golizopod stood before him, and Guzma was watching Kukui with a wide grin that was smug, but also showed genuine enthusiasm.

That brought a proud smile to Kukui's face as he called out of his own signature Pokémon. The great red cat flexed his muscles and roared proudly, assuming a fighting stance.

Part of Kukui was concerned this wasn't one of his best ideas. That if he beat Guzma here, that would set back all the progress the man had made and his bitter, ruthless side would resurface.

It was a genuine concern... but for right now, Kukui couldn't stop himself from following through with the battle. He was just far too happy to have his old friend back, and get another chance to square off against him fairly, just like old times.

Whatever way the battle turned out, Kukui decided... he was going to do his very best from the start this time to help keep Guzma on the right path.

The members of Team Skull broke out in their loudest chorus of cheers yet for their beloved leader, while behind Kukui his students cheered just as enthusiastically for him. With all that excitement in the air, Kukui also couldn't help himself but to strike a certain iconic pose.

"Eeen-joy!"

* * *

_***Kalos** **Route** **14***_

The land Immediately Easy of Lumiose City was rustic and quaint, a stark contrast to the bustling ultra modern Metropolis. The leaves on the trees almost always looked a varied mix of gold, red and Brown, even in the Spring, giving the fields a feeling of eternal Autumn.

It was a popular fishing spot for the residents of Lumiose City for its sparkling clean rivers and pond full of Basculin, and beyond that just being a charming place to go for a nice, relaxing stroll for those that needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city once in a while.

Clemont the Gym Leader, a blond haired, bespectacled teen dressed in blue, wasn't presently here for a relaxing walk though. In fact, if his suspicions were correct, he might have been in for a very stressful time.

The past few days there had been a series of interesting reports involving people being attacked by moving vines while exploring a certain set of ruins on the far side of the route. Officer Jenny had been planning to investigate, but when Clemont caught wind of the stories he had hurriedly volunteered to check it out himself.

The super genius inventor had first hand experience with a phenomenon just like this, after all. Over a year ago now, Lumiose City had been victim to a terrorist attack by the wicked Team Flare, a team of fanatics led by a man named Lysandre who sought to bring about a planetary genocide of all the humans and Pokemon he considered "Unworthy" of his superior vision for the world.

As part of his schemes he had taken control of two specimens of a Legendary Pokemon called Zygarde, and part of his attempts to harness the nature guardians' powers to cause mass destruction had caused Lumiose City to become engulfed in vines that had surrounded buildings and attempted to crush anyone in their path.

The Zygarde's had eventually been freed and Team Flare's maniacal ambitions thwarted by an alliance of brave souls including Clemont, his sister and father, their then travelling companions Ash Ketchum and Serena, and a large number of their friends including seven other Kalosian Gym Leaders and the reigning Champions of Kalos and Hoenn.

It had been a spectacular series of battles, but unfortunately it turned out soon after that the damage wasn't entirely fixed. According to one of the two Zygarde cores, who Clemont's little sister Bonnie affectionately dubbed Squishy, many of the living vines that had been created through Team Flare's doomsday weapons misusing their powers had not simply dissipated and had spread out across the Kalos region, and were liable to cause a lot of trouble if they weren't dealt with.

Squishy and the other Zygarde had promised to deal with the matter, accompanied by a certain Pokemon of Ash's that possessed the uncanny ability to sense and locate the vines. For a while Clemont had been wondering how that endeavor was progressing, not really having a way to contact the Zygarde's or track their movements... from the sounds of things though, unless there were some OTHER magic vines prone to attacking people, they weren't quite done yet.

Part of a Gym Leader's job involved being called on now and again to deal with potential threats that could cause harm to the people of their town or city. So while naturally a bit nervous after witnessing how dangerous those vines could be, Clemont readily set off to deal with them anyway, determined to not allow any more disasters to befall his city so long as he could help it.

Clemont was accompanied on his stroll through Route 4 by his father Meyer and younger sister Bonnie. Clemont wasn't particularly enthusiastic about having the little blonde girl along for such a dangerous endeavor, in fact they'd initially insisted that she stay behind at the Lumiose Gym under the watch of Clembot, the robot assistant Clemont had built to run the Gym in his place whenever he was busy.

Bonnie had pouted a lot and insisted on coming along, but Clemont had stood his ground and left the Gym without her... only for he and his father to find her waiting for them a short time later at the gates leading out of the city. Clemont still had no idea how she'd gotten past his security system so fast.

So much to Clemont's chagrin, his father had resolved to let Bonnie come along anyway, reasoning she'd just keep finding ways to sneak out and get involved anyway. They both made her promise to hang back and not get involved in actually dealing with the vines though, since besides Dedenne who didn't really belong to her anyway she didn't have any battle ready Pokemon to offer much assistance anyway, still being too young to officially become a trainer.

Not that the inherent danger of the situation was a deterrent for Bonnie, who was happily skipping along the country path and humming an upbeat travel song she only half knew the words to. Bonnie loved a good adventure, several months of travelling across Kalos with a group of trainers who appeared to be magnets for all kinds of weird trouble had made her not only accustomed to being in life or death circumstances, but she actually seemed to revel in and anticipate the thrill of it all.

Needless to say, Clemont was highly concerned about it. He desperately hoped Squishy the Zygarde actually kept that promise to travel with her whenever Bonnie started her journey, otherwise the teenage scientist feared he was in for daily aneurysms thinking about what kind of trouble she could get herself into if he wasn't able to accompany her.

Eventually after an hour of strolling, the family arrived at their destination. According to all the reports Officer Jenny had passed along, all the mysterious vine sightings came from people who had been exploring the lower levels of the decrepit ruins that lay before Clemont, Meyer and Bonnie.

About a hundred years ago, a luxurious hotel had stood here, but at some point it had been closed down and then later partially demolished by an escaped Tyranitar. The ruins of it, particularly the basement floors which housed a tunnel leading to an area in Route 15, were now common loitering grounds for passing trainers.

Bonnie was curiously craning her head and examining the ruins of the old hotel, hands joined behind her back while Dedenne peeked his head out of the yellow satchel hanging around her chest, smiling innocently at the wreckage.

"Yep. Definitely looks like the kind of place where weird stuff happens" Bonnie surmised.

"Denene" Dedenne agreed.

Clemont hummed thoughtfully as he pulled out a device from his rucksack that looked like a miniature computer screen with a tuning fork growing out of the top. When Clemont directed said tuning fork towards the ruins of the hotel and pressed a few buttons to the side of the device to activate it, the monitor began glowing and emitted a loud, repeated buzzing sound.

"Mmh-hmm!" Clemont nodded at that response, straightening his glasses and taking a closer look of the screen "No doubt about it now. My scanner's picking up the same kind of energy readings that Team Flare's doomsday devices were producing, so those vines are definitely present. Probably in the basement floors, from what I've been told"

"Well, glad we got that sorted out" Meyer said, cracking his fingers and doing some light stretches before pulling out a pokeball and summoning his Blaziken "Now we just need to deal with the darn things. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"It's certainly possible for our Pokemon to destroy them, but they're still very dangerous. We should approach with caution and not let our guard down. Depending on how many there are, we may need to make a tactical retreat and call for backup" Clemont explained direly, calling out his Luxray.

Bonnie shrugged casually and began marching towards the entrance of the ruins "Guess we better go check how many there are then"

Bonnie was pulled back by a tug of her shirt collar from behind. She looked up to see Clemont staring down at her with a "Nice try" expression.

"We will go check it out. You will stay here where it's safe, as was the agreement" Clemont said strictly. Bonnie crossed her arms and huffed loudly.

"But I won't get to see any of the fighting from here" Bonnie whined. Meyer chuckled and reached down to pat his daughter's head.

"Tell you what, I'll make it up to you by letting you tag along on my next outing as Blaziken Mask. I got a big tip off that there's a heist going down at the West bank tomorrow night, and there's a perfect spot on a rooftop you can watch me and Blaziken kick the goons' butts. I'll even let you design your own superhero costume in case anyone spots you and gets suspicious, how's that sound?"

Bonnie's eyes began to sparkle at that suggestion.

"Good deal!" Bonnie cheered, leaping up and throwing her arms into the air. When she landed she looked up at her father with a wide, giddy grin and declared "In that case, I'll be Gligirl! The champion of justice, defending our fair city by the cover of night, and looking super cute while she does so!"

"I'm pretty sure there's already a Gligirl in Johto, I'm afraid" Meyer said, scratching the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. Bonnie's cheery grin was wiped clean off her face, and she looked to the ground while pouting.

"Nuts. Just my luck" Bonnie griped.

Meyer's smile turned more sincere and comforting as he leaned down to pat his little girl on the head "You can always be Pikette, the lightning fast girl who fights crime in a Pikachu suit. I'm pretty sure that one's still available"

Bonnie mumbled thoughtfully about that, peeking up at her father with an uncertain frown. But eventually she grinned at him and nodded politely.

"That'll do for now" Bonnie said. But then she scratched her chin and added "Or maybe I'll be Lady Articuno, the winged maiden of ice who freezes bad guys' feet to the ground, and then makes yummy snow cones for all the good little boys and girls!"

"Haha. We'll go with whichever one I have the right materials for right now" Meyer said, stroking Bonnie's head some more and smiling brightly. His expression faltered as he felt a pair of angry eyes boring into the side of his head. Meyer turned to see his older child glaring at him with a disbelieving frown.

"... I think I preferred when we didn't know you were a superhero" Clemont said plainly. Meyer chuckled lightly and scratched his head again, prompting Clemont to sigh "Maybe I'm not one to talk considering how long I let her keep travelling with Ash, Serena and I, but do you really think it's a good idea to keep dragging her into MORE dangerous situations?"

"She's eight years old, son. She'll be a trainer before long, and she's already helped save the world. I know you're worried about not always being there for her, but we've got to start letting her be more independent and not coddle her anymore at some point" Meyer said wisely. Bonnie smiled thankfully at him, and Meyer took his hand off her head and stood upright again.

"I guess... But for now" Clemont said, pulling out two Pokeballs and releasing two more of his Pokemon to either side of his younger sister "Chespin, Bunnelby. I need you two to guard Bonnie in case any vines sprout up and attack. Hopefully not and dad and I can deal with this ourselves, but I'm counting on you to make sure she's safe, alright?"

"Chespin!" The Kalosian Grass Type starter saluted to Bonnie's right, while the brown rabbit Pokemon to Bonnie's left nodded. Bonnie giggled and held up the yellow pouch she was carrying, from which Dedenne extended a paw and uttered a determined "Dene!"

"Good thinking, but hopefully they won't need to do anything" Meyer began, giving a carefree chuckle "After all, by all account the vines have only been appearing in the underground tunnel, so she shouldn't have any trouble out here"

CRASH!

The family of three and their assembled Pokemon jumped three feet in the air at the deafening sounds from nearby, Dedenne falling out of his satchel in the process and landing face first on the ground. As Clemont, Bonnie and their father landed and recovered from their shock, they turned to the decrepit ruins of the old hotel to see a huge mostly purple wave of energy rising out from it, having demolished a good chunk of the ruins' centre.

The Gym family's jaws were agape at the swirling multi-coloured energy that looked almost like flames. The machine Clemont had been using to scan for their target earlier suddenly began vibrating at such a great intensity that Clemont was forced to drop it. The machine was emitting a loud sound like a fire alarm might make. And if that wasn't enough reason for Clemont and company to panic, the ground started loudly rumbling and everything began shaking like there was an earthquake, causing Bonnie to stumble around and fall backwards onto the floor. Clemont, Meyer and their Pokemon all struggled very hard not to follow her lead.

The rumbling subsided pretty quickly... only to be followed by something much more concerning, as a trio of gigantic black vines erupted out of the ground, practically obliterating the ruins of the abandoned hotel in the process and sending the chunks of it flying in many directions.

Meyer steadied himself and looked up at the squirming vines, blinking slowly.

"... Oh look, they came out to greet us. How nice" Meyer said meekly. Almost instantaneously his expression flipped from comically befuddled to aggressively serious and the man threw himself in front of his fallen daughter to shield her.

"Blaziken, GET READY!" Meyer called out, raising his right arm where he held the ring containing his key stone.

"Blaze!" Blaziken responded with a dire nod, standing upright and getting ready to mega evolve.

Chespin and Bunnelby joined Meyer in providing cover for Bonnie, Chespin quaking with fear as he did so but was nonetheless prepared to fight with everything he had, while Clemont's Luxray put it's front right paw forward and generated a few sparks around its body, growling fiercely and getting ready to strike.

Clemont straightened his glasses and glared up at the atrocious vines, clenching his teeth. He was about to order Luxray to launch an attack... until two flashes of green shooting up near the lower end of the deadly roots caught his attention. Frowning suspiciously, Clemont narrowed his eyes and followed the shape now darting across the leftmost giant vine, which seemed to resemble some kind of black and green canine.

Clemont's glasses almost fell off his face as his eyes bulged in surprise. His shock would only grow as the canine figure leapt off the top of the vine, spun around in mid-air and released a wave of multi-coloured energy from its mouth, which Clemont now recognised as the dragon-type attack Dragon pulse.

The end of the Dragon pulse attack formed into the shape of a dragons head, the mouth of which opened wide as it began to engulf the vine. At the same time a second black and green canine repeated this process with the vine on the right. Soon the two vines were completely engulfed by the Dragon pulse attacks, which exploded in a glorious flash of blue and purple.

When the lights subsided, only one of the three enormous vines remained, and the dog-like Pokemon both landed half a yard away to either side of Clemont's family. Bonnie and Meyer looked to the two sudden arrivals in amazement, as did most of Clemont's Pokemon except Luxray, who along with Blaziken was just glaring at the one remaining vine, the fiery poultry Pokemon charging up the flames along its hands ready to counter any sudden attacks. Clemont was also staring at that vine, but with a much more blank expression on his face.

The central vine began swerving dangerously, looking like it was leaning back so that it could whip itself at the stunned humans and their Pokemon, which made Clemont recoil in fright.

Blaziken and Luxray both moved to strike the vine... but were beaten to the punch by a new arrival. A blue figure shot up into the air from behind the last remaining vine, tossing two lighter blue objects from its hands. The figure leapt right over the vine, flipping through the air several times before hitting the ground where it performed the standard superhero landing pose.

The objects the blue figure had thrown, a pair of large shrunken made of water, circle around and sliced through the vine several times before the water composing them dispersed. The vine fell apart as a result of the attack, the many pieces hitting the ground at the same time as their assailant. They appeared to dissolve into the ether shortly afterwards.

Clemont silently watched the whole scene unfold. Afterwards he briefly removed his glasses and wiped the lenses against his collar, putting them back on after he was satisfied the glass was clean and clear and taking a closer look at the newest arrival, who had now risen to its feet. Close inspection revealed it to be a tall, slim, anthropomorphic blue frog with a very long tongue wrapped around its mouth and part of it's neck like a scarf.

"Greninja..." Was all Clemont could say in response for a moment.

Meyer looked between the two canine Pokemon and the now identified Greninja and scratched his head, an odd expression on his face.

"Well that was all very sudden" He observed. The man shrugged awkwardly "I'm not gonna complain, that was very convenient... just... wow, that all happened very quickly"

Clemont stood silently for a long moment, eventually feeling compelled to take a few steps forward to the Pokemon that had just maybe saved his and his family's lives. The Greninja met his gaze with a focused, and also very familiar stare.

"You're... Ash's..." Clemont said slowly before trailing off. Greninja nodded in confirmation, which caused Clemont to jump to attention, swiftly turning around to check on his sister, who was now staring transfixed at the black and green canine that had taken down the left vine.

The creature was now slowly approaching the group, its white eyes without pupils fixed on Bonnie, who unconsciously took a few steps towards it herself. The Pokemon came to a halt less than ten feet in front of Bonnie, who was watching it with wide eyes and a wistful expression.

"... Are you...?" Bonnie started, her voice catching in her throat before she could finish. Seemingly in response to the unfinished question, the being began to glow. Several streaks of green light started shooting out of the creature's body, disappearing into the nearby grass and trees of the route. The Pokemon's canine form began to fade away, and when the glow subsided it now stood before Bonnie in its most familiar form: A tiny green blobish creature with a single eye, and a red diamond shape on its middle section.

'Hello, Bonnie' A refined voice rang out in the minds of all present. Meyer and most of the Pokemon jumped slightly, taken aback by what they were hearing. Clemont and Greninja had no visible reaction, having experienced the telepathic voice of the Zygarde cell before and thus fully anticipated it. And Bonnie looked like she might cry tears of joy 'It's good to see you again'

"SQUISHY!" Bonnie cried out, leaping forward and landing on the ground in front of her old friend, reaching out her hands to scoop up the tiny cell of Zygarde and happily rubbing his head against her cheek, giving an absolutely delighted laugh as she did so. Squishy the Zygarde looked taken aback at first, but quickly settled in and returned Bonnie's gesture by rubbing his own face up and down her cheek.

Dedenne happily ran over and climbed onto Bonnie's shoulder to get a better look at his old bag buddy, and Chespin and Bunnelby eagerly gathered around too.

"Huh... well, how about that" Meyer said absent-mindedly, chuckling at his daughter's antics. Clemont silently watched his sister flip around on her back and continue making a fuss of the tiny Legendary Pokemon, it took about five whole minutes before she finally sat upright and laid off the hugging and petting and friendly face squeezing enough for Squishy to properly speak again.

'I ought to have known you lot would be here, the vines being so close to the city and all' Said Squishy. Clemont nodded, shaking off the dumbstruck expression he'd been wearing and giving the little blob a grateful smile.

"Came as soon as I heard. I know you're all supposed to be dealing with them, but we thought we could help out in this case" Clemont said, taking another quick sideways glance at Ash's Kalos Ace "... Evidently, we needn't have worried"

'The thought was very much appreciated' Squishy said. He let out a strange high pitched squeak as Bonnie started scratching under his... well, the Legendary didn't exactly have a chin, but same difference.

"You guys were so awesome just now" Bonnie said proudly, vigorously petting Squishy some more. Once again, the blob didn't seem to mind.

Meyer hummed thoughtfully and turned to face the second Zygarde, still in its 10% form and watching the group of humans and tamed Pokemon with a cautious glare. Unlike Squishy it hadn't moved any closer to them, and appeared to want to keep it that way. Blaziken and Luxray kept a tepid watch on the aloof Legendary, unsure what to make of it, while Meyer just scratched his chin.

'Don't mind him. He still has his reservations about humans, even if he doesn't quite hate you all anymore' Squishy informed Meyer after noticing his curious stare. Meyer shrugged his shoulders and laughed mirthlessly.

"Yeah, suppose I can't blame him after what that creep Lysandre did to him" Meyer said, turning back to his daughter and the more sociable Zygarde. He beamed at Squishy "Thanks a lot by the way"

'You're welcome' Squishy replied. He looked up at the sky with a contemplative look in his one eye as Bonnie continued petting him 'Those vines have certainly been persistent... but I dare say, we're finally nearing the day where we can confidently say the job is finished'

"You mean it!" Bonnie gasped, holding Squishy up and turning him around so their faces were in line with each other. The Zygarde cell nodded, and Bonnie beamed brightly and excitedly threw Squishy up in the air slightly, catching him again and giving Squishy more face nuzzles.

"That's such great news to hear" Clemont said, turning to Greninja and giving him a congratulatory smile. The frog ninja responded with a curt nod and a thumbs up. Clemont nodded back and faced Squishy once more with an imploring stare "So, what are you all going to do after you're done with the vines?"

'My partner and I will continue to guard the natural world, as we have always done. If you're curious about Greninja... we're uncertain what will happen. Greninja has been an invaluable ally to us the past year, and so we would appreciate very much if he continued to travel with us... but I'm fairly sure Greninja would be happiest if he could reunite with his old trainer' Squishy explained 'If you could contact him when the time comes, that would be very helpful'

"Of course. I'm sure Ash would like that very much" Clemont cheerfully replied.

Bonnie pulled Squishy back again to give her old friend an expectant grin "You know, I'm gonna turn ten in just over a year... we DID promise to travel together again, right?"

It was hard to tell with his minimal facial features, but Squishy appeared to look quite amused at her 'I suppose I can endure the indignity of living in a bag again when the time arrives, if it would make you happy'

Bonnie started giggling, which developed into hysterical laughter as she tightly hugged Squishy once more. Meyer laughed too.

"I suppose everything worked out well for everyone in the end, huh?"

All of the gathered humans and Pokemon joined in with their own hearty laughs except for Blaziken and Luxray, who had gone to greet Greninja. The frog ninja nodded graciously, raising it's head to the sky and quietly watching the clouds.

Greninja wondered what Ash might be doing in that moment.

* * *

_***Back** **in** **Vermilion** **City.** **Cerise** **Park***_

Following their surprise meeting with Angie at Vermilion Park, Ash and Goh had stopped by the Pokemon Centre to drop off Lucario for healing before leading Angie to the Cerise Laboratory.

Goh and Cinderace mostly hung back and kept quiet as Ash and Angie talked non-stop the entire trek, the two teens taking turns catching up on what the other had been up to the Past three years since their last meeting.

Angie didn't have all that much to report, or at least not a lot that she was interested in sharing. Her Shinx had evolved into a Luxio (Which she had called out to walk with the group to the lab, and Ash had spent a minute fawning over how cool it looked), She had apparently caught a few more Pokemon including a duskull and a Bibarel, which were both back at home so she couldn't show them off, and apparently she had met Cynthia the Sinnoh Champion at some point when she was visiting Solaceon Town.

Other than that and a few other little details she had shared though, Angie insisted her life was pretty uneventful and mundane. She was still working alongside her parents at their daycare, and apparently despite any misgivings her father might have still had over the Lickilicky mishap they had started to trust her to take on more responsibilities as a Daycare Worker as of late. Ash got the strangest feeling the girl had conflicting feelings about that, but decided not to pry into it and let her bring it up if she felt like talking about it.

Angie was a lot more interested in hearing about Ash, who was flattered to hear that his old summer camp pal had become a regular viewer of all his major league battles. So Ash spent the whole time regaling her with stories about his adventures. Listing off all the Pokémon he'd caught, the friends he travelled with, and the villain teams they had all fought together.

Angie (And also Goh, who had only heard a third of these accounts himself so far) listened with rapt attention as Ash went into bombastic retellings of his encounters with Legendary Pokémon and the weird situations he'd often found himself in involving them. Like the time he went to Ultra space riding on Solgaleo, or the Shamouti incident where he found out he was some sort of chosen one and saved the whole world. Angie couldn't seem to get enough of it all.

It felt like Ash had been talking for hours when they finally arrived at the gates to the Cerise Laboratory. The Team Rocket Trio had tried to ambush them at the entrance, which led to the standard procedure of Ash and company blasting them off after a brief battle. It took less time than it normally did funnily enough, because the strange vending machine full of Pokeballs they had with them these days had goofed up and provided them with a magikarp and a feebas to battle with. Angie ended up singlehandedly sending them packing with a powerful spark from her Luxio.

"Those guys are STILL following you?!" An aghast Angie had declared.

"They don't show up quite as often these days, come to think of it, but I'm pretty sure there's a law against them NOT stalking me at this point" Ash wearily replied.

Barring a mild altercation with Ash's Gengar pushing the door open to smack it into Ash's face as a prank, the trio made it inside the building largely unscathed after that. Ash and Goh briefly introduced Angie to Professor Cerise and his assistants before excitedly leading Angie to the park where all their Pokémon resided. Ash had asked if Cerise's daughter Chloe was around, but apparently she was spending the day at a friends house, so Ash wouldn't get to introduce Angie to her today.

 _'Oh well'_ Ash thought _'Maybe tomorrow'_

Angie marvelled at the splendor of the large park, and all the Pokémon wandering around. It seemed all of Goh's Pokémon were wandering around in plain sight today, and Goh was quite proud to point them all out to Angie. The tomboy was especially impressed by Goh's giant Golurk, who at first glance she was certain had to be some kind of statue with how perfectly still it stood, and was absolutely shocked when Goh informed her it was a living Pokémon and Golurk proceeded to give her a friendly wave of its hand.

Ash was halfway through regaling Angie with the epic tale of how Goh had caught Golurk in the ruins of the Desert Resort when the group was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched bellow. And before Angie could even blink in surprise, she found herself wrapped in a bone crushing hug by Ash's Dragonite.

Ash watched Angie be squeezed by the cuddle-loving dragon for half a minute before scratching his head and chuckling lightly "Uhh… alright, then. Angie, I'd like very much to introduce you to my Dragonite!"

"Yer wuh!" Angie croaked, looking up incredulously at the smiling orange dragon's face. Dragonite didn't seem to realize it was practically suffocating the poor girl. Angie's Luxio was staring up at Dragonite with an anxious frown, wondering whether or not it should try to intervene... or if there was anything he even could do against the towering Dragon-type.

After hearing an audible crackling sound, Ash clenched his teeth and rushed forth to tap Dragonite's shoulder, getting its attention. Ash pointed to Angie, and Dragonite looked down to see her face turning purple. Eyes widening in guilty realization, Dragonite swiftly released Angie, who fell on her back against the floor and started breathing rapidly.

When she was back to her senses the green haired tomboy stared up at the apologetic Dragonite with a dumbfounded expression. She turned to Ash and raised an eyebrow at him.

"... Aren't Dragonite supposed to be super rare or something?" Angie inquired. Ash nodded simply, and she added "I can believe that you can catch one, but... where the heck did you even get that thing!?"

"We got stranded out at sea during a storm, and some Dragonite rescued us and took us to their island" Ash replied. Angie blinked at him before rounding on Goh, who responded with an amused grin and an impish shrug.

"It's true. He met it as a Dragonair actually. It was having trouble learning to fly, and Ash had the bright idea to teach it by bouncing on an electro-web" Goh informed Angie, who looked back at Ash with a frown that screamed "... You didn't..."

Ash scratched under his nose, looking completely shameless "Yup. It worked too"

"Of course it did" Angie sighed. As Ash and Goh carefully helped Angie back onto her feet, Dragonite let out another happy bellow and grabbed her Luxio, holding him up and giving the black and blue feline his own big hug. Luxio sent his trainer a pleading look, but all Angie could do in the moment was shrug apologetically.

After about five minutes Dragonite finally released Luxio, making Pikachu the center of its affections for a while, and when Ash and Goh were done recounting their island adventure where Dragonite was caught and some of the other fun stuff Ash had gotten up to with the lovable Dragon, like the time it defeated the Kalosian Gym Leader Korrina's Mega Lucario, Ash led the group to the side of the large pond where Goh's water Pokémon congregated. Dragonite went off somewhere on its own, thankfully not taking Pikachu with it, while Ash began looking around carefully.

"Hmm..." Ash said, keeping his eyes peeled "Okay, you've seen Lucario, Gengar and Dragonite. And of course Pikachu here. Out of my Pokémon I keep here in Vermilion, that leaves... oh, there he is! HEY, FARFETCH'D! OVER HERE!"

Angie looked curiously in the direction Ash was staring off to, lowering her gaze to watch a small, mostly dark brown duck carrying a leek waddling over to them. The duck stopped directly in front of Angie and stared up at her. Its eyes were half open, which along with the thick eyebrows gave it a perpetually serious, somewhat dangerous expression.

Angie stared oddly at it "... That's a Farfetch'd?"

Ash smiled proudly at the duck "Yup. A Galarian one... they all looked like that, I think. He's pretty awesome, right?"

Angie blinked curiously at Farfetch'd, who held his enormous leek behind his back and puffed out his chest impressively. The tomboy smirked "I never thought I'd say this about a Farfetch'd, but, yeah. He does look pretty cool"

"Now if only he could win a battle once in a while" Goh snarked under his breath. Ash and Farfetch'd glared irritably at Goh, but Angie didn't appear to hear him and just frowned thoughtfully at the duck.

"Galarian huh? I've heard about regional variants... so, what makes frowny face here different from normal Farfetch'd?" Angie inquired.

"Galarian Farfetch'd are fighting types" Goh replied, pulling out his Rotom Phone "Also I checked the other day, and apparently they're capable of evolving into something called a Sirfetch'd"

"Wait, really?" Asked Ash, who was just as caught off guard by the revelation as Angie. Even Farfetch'd himself raised his bushy eyebrows curiously.

"Here, one sec" Goh said, tapping on the rotom phone's touch screen a few times before flipping it around to show everyone. Ash, Angie, Pikachu and Cinderace all bunched up together to examine the image of a formidable looking white duck with a similar face to Ash's Farfetch'd, but who's leak more resembled a mighty sword, and it also carried a green shield.

"Pi, pika" Pikachu said, staring wide eyed at the image, while Angie gave an impressed whistle.

"Wow, suddenly I'm not sure whether I'm more jealous of the Dragonite, or that you're probably going to own that thing eventually… actually, I'm really jealous that you get both" Angie told Ash, who grinned widely and took hold of the Rotom Phone so he could show the image to his Farfetch'd.

Farfetch'd narrowed his already half-closed eyes so much they almost closed entirely. A moment later they shot wide open, and a gleam of intrigue flashed through them.

"Faaarr" Farfetch'd said, rubbing his wing against the bottom of his beak, looking quite fascinated by the form he might someday assume.

"Any idea how we can get Farfetch'd to evolve into that, then?" Ash asked eagerly. Goh shrugged.

"I dunno, the pokedex app was kinda vague about the evolution method" Goh said, taking back his Rotom phone and staring oddly at it "It just said something about it hitting other Pokémon really, really hard..."

Farfetch'd's eyes seemed to glow a dangerous red at that information, and he quickly started scanning the area. His eyes fell on the trio of Goh's male Nidoran, Caterpie and Bunnelby, who were all kneeling down by the side of the nearby pond for a drink.

They all stopped drinking when they sensed they were being watched, and the three small Pokémon turned to see Farfetch'd furrow his brow dangerously at them, wielding his leek like a club with his right wing and tapping it slowly against the tip of his left wing.

Nidoran, Caterpie and Bunnelby's eyes all turned completely white, and they proceeded to make a break for it in the opposite direction from the mad duck. Farfetch'd raised his leak above his head and let out a fierce battle cry, giving chase to the unlucky trio. Ash's jaw dropped at the sight and he leapt at Farfetch'd to try and catch the duck, but missed and landed on his face. Ash then frantically pushed himself back to his feet and ran after the duck.

"No, Farfetch'd, stop! NOT LIKE THAT!"

Angie and Goh snorted loudly, quickly breaking out into full on laughter at Ash and the crazed duck's antics. Pikachu, who had fallen off of Ash's shoulder when he hit the ground, watched his trainer chase after Farfetch'd with a worried frown, debating whether he should follow after him. The little mouse eventually just decided to shrug it off and go play a game of tag with Angie's Luxio.

"Yeah, that's definitely a Pokémon of Ash's, alright" Angie said, still giggling a bit. She turned to Goh "This what every day is like for you, then?"

"Every single one" Goh said with a careless shrug. He smiled endearingly after his hapless friend "Ash is a very unconventional person, and nothing he or his Pokémon ever do seems all that normal to me... but honestly, that's one thing I like about him. He keeps life interesting, and despite how it can sometimes look from an outside perspective, Ash is actually pretty smart and uniquely insightful... I feel like I really learn a lot, travelling with him" Goh put a hand on his hip, flashing Angie a toothy grin "I dare say I picked the perfect candidate for my best friend"

Angie nodded unconsciously, staring wistfully in the direction where Ash had just vanished off to "... Yeah. You really scored big with him, and getting to travel around the whole world all you want..." Angie's gaze lowered, and she let out an almost remorseful sigh.

Goh didn't seem to notice straight away, just staring proudly at the sky through the glass ceilings of the indoor park "Honestly, I hope I get to keep going on adventures with him for a very long time..."

It took five minutes before Ash returned to the side of the pond where Angie and Goh remained waiting, having sat down on a nearby patch of grass. The trainer was gently carrying Farfetch'd in his arms, the frowning duck appeared calm and collected now, but the red marks across Ash's face made it clear he had not come around easily.

Angie and Goh snorted again at the sight of Ash, who shot them both a warning look before carefully setting Farfetch'd down.

"You're a lot of trouble sometimes, you know that?" Ash scolded the duck, who nodded apologetically before waddling off. Angie watched it leave with a curious expression, then turned to Goh.

"Do any of your Pokemon ever act up like that?" She asked "You have so many different kinds here, I can't imagine they all get along all the time"

"I'm proud to say my Pokemon are all very well behaved" Goh bragged, holding his head up high.

"CUBONE!"

Goh blinked, turning around to see his Cubone angrily chasing after his Darmanitan, who was laughing wickedly and holding up the bone Cubone usually wielded as it ran from the Skull wearing Pokemon.

"CUBONE! CU, CUBE, CUBONE!"

Goh stared slack jawed at the scene before him. He glanced at Ash, who was smugly grinning ear to ear at him. Goh frowned at his fellow trainer and turned back to the fleeing Darmanitan with a loud groan "... With one exception..."

Goh shot to his feet and took after the thieving Darmanitan. Cinderace stared after its trainer with a cheeky smile, shrugging carelessly and shaking it's head before following after him. Angie giggled uncontrollably for a moment while Ash just casually sat down beside her.

While Goh disappeared somewhere into the park, Ash and Angie quietly watched Pikachu and Luxio play around, the former having currently bowled the latter over to start scratching his belly, which made Luxio pur happily. Angie gave the two Pokemon an adoring smile before turning to Ash.

"You and Goh have some interesting Pokemon" Angie said, earning a grateful nod from Ash "Where'd you say the Pokemon you had in Sinnoh were again? And all your other ones?"

"Most of them are at Professor Oak's ranch. Incineroar, Lycanroc, Melmetal and Rowlet are all in Alola, with my Alola family. I've been thinking about having the Professors start sending them over more often to help with the World Championship battles, but I didn't want to do that too much straight away, I was worried it might make me neglect training the Pokemon I have with me right now, who probably need that more right now" Ash replied, scratching his head sadly as he added "And I released a few of them over the years... it was what they wanted, and I'm happy for them. But I still miss them a lot. I know where half of them are, like Squirtle and Goodra, so I could probably still call up and have them help me out once in a while... but some of them are harder to find. Naganadel lives in a whole other dimension"

"Ouch" Angie said, looking apologetically at Ash "Sorry... that must be rough"

"It always is, at first" Ash agreed. He shook his head, looking up at the sky with a wistful smile "But you get used to it... I know whatever they're all doing, they're happy. I'm just glad I got to meet them all, and for all the wonderful memories of the good times we had together"

"I guess you could say you've led a really fulfilling life, then?"

"You can say that again" Ash said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back to let the rays of sunlight shining through the glass wash over him "So many great Pokemon... so many wonderful friends... adventure around every corner... it's been a blast. Maybe the best life I could have possibly asked for!"

Ash slowly opened his eyes, smiling serenely "... I'd do it all again in a heartbeat..."

Ash turned back to Angie. The peaceful smile quickly faded from his face, being replaced with a worried frown when he noticed how downcast Angie looked. Ash bit his lip, his mind going into overdrive to try and figure out a way to raise his friend's spirits.

As an old memory suddenly resurfaced in his mind, Ash grinned widely and shot to his feet, chuckling enthusiastically at Angie. That got the tomboy's attention and at least managed to wipe the sad frown off her face, as she looked to Ash with a curious pout.

"You know..." Ash started, giving Angie a cheeky grin, extending a fist to her "I do believe that when we parted ways after camp ended, we made a promise to battle each other the next time we met. We didn't get to do that in Solaceon Town because of everything that happened there, but we've got plenty of time now. Sooo...?"

Angie blinked slowly at Ash. Any sad feelings seemed to vanish from her face as she put on a competitive grin, rising to her feet and fist bumping Ash. A fire burned in Angie's eyes as she leaned in close to look Ash dead in the eye "You're on"

Ash and Angie giggled deviously, whistling to Pikachu and Luxio and motioning for them to follow. Ash led Angie to a large clearing nearby, where Pikachu and Luxio ran up to the center of it and squared off against one another a dozen feet apart, arching their backs and looking eager for battle. Several of Goh's Pokémon who were hanging around and relaxing in the clearing moved out of the way once they realized what was going on with the new arrivals and getting to a safe distance to curiously watch how the oncoming battle turned out.

Ash and Angie looked to each other, the latter putting her hands on her hips and huffing arrogantly.

"Just because you're a League veteran doesn't mean you're in any way allowed to go easy on me" Angie said, poking Ash hard in the chest several times and grinning dangerously at him "I may not have travelled the world and beaten Legendary Pokémon, but I've been training almost every day for the past couple years just for this! So don't whine if I beat yah!"

Ash shook his head and gave her an amused smirk "I hope your Luxio is every bit as strong as Pikachu, I'd be disappointed if this battle WASN'T gonna be tough!"

Ash and Angie narrowed their eyes, staring intently at each other... Ash quickly relaxed his expression and gave the girl a friendly smile and offered her his hand. Angie looked down at it in surprise for a moment and clasped her hand against his, squeezing it tightly. She gave Ash a grateful smile, then shook her head and let out a more girlish giggle than Ash had ever heard from her.

"... Thanks for this, Ash" Angie said sincerely, looking away briefly before meeting Ash's gaze with a twinkle in her amber eyes "... Honestly... I'm really glad I got to meet you again. This afternoon has been the highlight of my whole vacation already"

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm so glad I got to meet you again" Ash nodded, causing Angie to blush slightly. She didn't look away this time, just continuing to giggle endearingly at Ash, who mused to himself that there was something curiously adorable about it.

Angie took a calming breath, then narrowed her eyes at Ash and gave him a cheeky grin, as the two teens gripped each others hands harder, getting fired up for the long awaited battle.

"Alright then" Angie said "Let's do this!"

**BOOM!**

Ash and Angie stumbled around as the whole world around them suddenly started shaking for a brief moment. Angie ended up collapsing into Ash, sending them both to the ground.

Nearby, Pikachu and Luxio just barely managed to avoid falling flat on their faces, and were still left wobbling on their feet for a while afterwards. Several of Goh's nearby Pokemon weren't so lucky and collapsed together into a large pile, blinking in shock.

Up in the air, Goh's Butterfree, Pidgey and several of his other flying-types started plummeting to the ground, a few of them lucky enough to catch themselves and start flapping their wings to slowly descend before hitting the floors.

Ash's Dragonite, who had been calmly hovering around considering who it might cuddle up to next, floundered through the air and barely managed to stop itself from crashing into a tree. It carefully positioned itself onto a large branch, and with a confused bellow it started scanning the area for whatever it was that knocked it off balance.

Goh and Cinderace, who were now on the other side of the park to Ash and Angie and had still been chasing after Darmanitan and Cubone, fell flat on their faces, grunting loudly. Darmanitan widened its eyes, looking back and forth with a fearful expression, weary of further tremors, dropping Cubone's bone to the floor.

Cubone didn't bother to pick it up. The orphan Pokémon just stood motionless, utterly petrified by fear.

Ash and Angie groaned, the latter pushing against Ash's chest to raise herself up a bit. Ash grunted at this, but shook off the pain, staring into Angie's horrified face with an equally shocked expression.

The world was still for a long time after that... and eerily quiet, an ominous feeling in the air.

...

...

...

"..." Angie's jaw was agape "... What... was..."

**BOOM!**

Angie crashed her head against Ash's, almost knocking the two teens right out, as the entire park shook for several seconds longer this time. Pikachu and Luxio fully collapsed this time, while all throughout Cerise Park Pokémon started crying out in panic, with even the normally still and meditative Golurk looking around frantically.

**BOOM!**

The world shook again, and Angie rolled off of Ash, though still clinging onto his hand.

"What the heck is going on here!" Goh screamed from further away, pushing himself slightly off the ground with some difficulty and looking furious and perturbed.

Cinderace managed to bounce onto its feet and assume a fighting stance, looking around cautiously for any sign of a possible enemy, sweating bullets.

Nearby, Ash's Farfetch'd looked to the sky, glaring fearfully.

**BOOM!**

Ash clenched his teeth and managed to open his eyes to witness that a wave of purple light seemed to briefly flash over the area in step with the most recent tremor.

Ash's heart sank and his jaw dropped. His eyes widened in pure terror.

"No way..." Ash croaked, shaking his head in disbelief "It can't be... not Alamos Town again!"

"Huh!" Angie cried out, staring incredulously at Ash "What happened in Alamos Town!?"

Ash took a while to even register what Angie had said. When he finally did he looked at her with the most serious look in his eyes Angie had yet witnessed, even more so than when they nearly got sucked into the underworld together.

There was also a great fear in them. And it was even more evident in the dire tone in which Ash told her "Dialga and Palkia fought each other once... Palkia got hurt and used Alamos Town as a rest stop. It made reality around the town go nuts... then, Dialga showed up, and they started fighting again... reality started to collapse around us, and Alamos Town was almost wiped out of existence"

Angie's whole body trembled, her jaw almost hitting the floor. She stared frantically into Ash's eyes, practically begging him to be lying. And he just glared back without blinking once.

Angie could only utter two words to describe the situation.

"... … … OH CRAP!"

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

Ash and Angie grabbed onto each other and held on tightly, screaming in terror as the tremors hit the park worse than ever.

All throughout the park, Pokémon began screaming at the top of their lungs, those still standing flailing around in terror, a few of them launching attacks wildly at anything that moved, too disorientated to think clearly. Dragonite's mournful wail echoed above all of them.

The loud slamming of a door echoed out, catching Ash's attention. Through great difficulty, Ash managed to drag himself and Angie unsteadily to their feet. Angie hung on tightly to him, her head on his shoulder and a look of terror frozen on her face. Ash grit his teeth, looking around for his starter Pokémon and Luxio, who had somehow rolled a good distance away during the tremors and now sat over a yard away from their trainers.

Gritting his teeth even harder to the point they might crack, Ash furiously looked around for the source of that last loud sound. He soon spotted the red haired Professor Cerise running into the park, moving so frantically he ended up tripping himself up and slamming into the ground chin first next to the downed Pikachu and Luxio, his glasses falling off his head in the process.

Ash looked desperately to the Professor, who just barely managed to push himself up a bit to look back at Ash with a blank stare for a whole thirty seconds.

A weak smile formed on Cerise's face. He seemed to be fighting desperately to hold it all together.

"... I... I don't mean to... alarm you all!" Professor Cerise said slowly to Ash, who narrowed his eyes at him as his way of telling the Professor to swallow his fear and give it to him straight. Cerise's lips trembled and he stared miserably at the ground for a brief moment, before looking back up at Ash with an ominous glare.

"... The world outside... is kind of disappearing"

Ash's eyes widened.

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

The latest bout of world shaking caused the glass ceiling of the Cerise Park to shatter into a million pieces... all of which mysteriously hung in the air for a moment in suspended animation.

Ash balked at the floating chunks of glass, which soon after flew high into the sky, quickly disappearing into the horizon... leaving a clear view for Ash to witness the once clear blue skies be engulfed in an inky blackness.

Ash gulped "... This is DEFINITELY just like Alamos Town"

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

The screams of the Park Pokémon grew deathening as the walls around the park completely collapsed and faded away, revealing walls of pure darkness, which began encroaching into the park.

Humans and Pokémon alike gaped in horror at the sight. Ash's Dragonite Clenched its teeth and stared around frantically for its friends. It spotted a seemingly shell shocked Farfetch'd staring distantly at the endless darkness before it. Dragonite gave a mortified wail and took flight, swooping down to grab its friend in an effort to carry the duck to safety...

… Blipping out of existence in a brief flash of white light before it reached its fellow Pokémon.

Farfetch'd itself vanished shortly thereafter.

Ash wasn't able to witness his Pokémon vanishing, but he and Angie did clearly see the Pokémon that had been getting ready to watch Pikachu and Luxio battle disappear. And it made both of their hearts freeze up.

"There... there's no way... this makes no sense!" Goh uttered from not too far away. He backed away fearfully from the wall of darkness that inched closer and closer forward, engulfing everything in its path as it did so. Biting his lower lip so hard it bled slightly, Goh frantically looked around for anything vaguely resembling a possible answer for the impossible phenomenon.

His eyes settled on the floating green ghost Pokémon with a row of red beads below her head, glaring desperately at her "PLEASE tell me this is one of yours and Stantler's illusions again, Misdreavus!?"

Misdreavus shook her head quickly, looking like she herself desperately wished that was actually the case. The ghost's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and she blipped out of existence too, causing her trainer to gasp.

To the side Cinderace glared defiantly at the wall of darkness, charging up a pyro ball and swiftly kicking it towards the darkness.

The pyro ball fizzled out and disappeared quickly... and Cinderace with it.

"NO!" Goh wailed, rushing towards the spot where his starter Pokémon had vanished and grabbing the air desperately, almost falling over when it became clear there was nothing but air in Cinderace's place.

Goh's hands dropped to his sides, and all the poor trainer could do was stare miserably into space, too horrified and heart broken to even notice the darkness rush over him until he had completely vanished.

One by one, the Pokémon that resided in the Cerise Park disappeared. The horrified screams died down slowly before leaving an eerie silence over the small patch of park where Ash and Angie held onto each other for dear life, while the fallen Professor Cerise began breathing heavily as Pikachu and Luxio finally struggled to their feet.

A rush of adrenaline caused Angie's shell shocked fear to end abruptly, and she pushed back from Ash a bit to look furiously at his face.

"WELL?! You're the expert in weird nonsense! WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"I don't know!" Ash cried desperately, which knocked the anger out of Angie's expression and replaced it with a renewed grimace of despair "There isn't a clock tower that can play music around here or anything... and I don't even know if it's Dialga and Palkia doing all this, this time!"

"Oh, this is just..." Professor Cerise never finished his sentence.

Pikachu and Luxio grimaced at the spot where the Professor had vanished and shook their heads frantically.

"PIKA!"

Pikachu spotted the two remaining humans, noticing Ash staring desperately at him. Eyes watering, Pikachu crouched down and hastily pounced forward, dashing towards his trainer in a mad rush. Luxio tried to follow, but vanished before it could take his first step.

Eyes filled with dread, Ash removed his left hand from around Angie's back and reached out to Pikachu, who used quick attack in a last ditch effort to outrun the now rapidly approaching darkness.

Pikachu leapt into the air, and reached out his paw to try and take Ash's hand...

... And vanished a split second before reaching him.

Ash felt his heart break in two.

"PIKACHUUUUU!"

Tears rushed down Ash's face, which contorted into an expression of pure, agonizing despair.

Angie hugged Ash as tightly as she possibly could, leaking a few tears of her own into Ash's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry" Angie whispered.

It was all she could say.

The floors beneath Ash and Angie seemed to fade away, and all the colour that still surrounded them vanished. The two terrified teenagers maintained a firm grip on each other as they fell into an abyss.

They fell, and fell, and fell.

For what felt like forever, Ash and Angie fell...

… And then all feeling seemed to slip away from them, and all they knew was darkness.

…

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"GAH!"

Ash groaned as his face hit the marble floors. It took him a long time to recover from the shock of his sudden landing and open his eyes, upon which he was immediately blinded by the pure whiteness of his surroundings. Blinking rapidly, his eyes eventually started to adjust to the brightness around him.

He realized he was in an enormous hallway filled with golden columns, And where the walls, floor and ceiling were all pure, unblemished white marble.

No surprise it was such a disorientating sight after being engulfed by so much darkness for… he still had no idea how long. He almost couldn't believe it had even ended.

Ash rubbed his eyes before moving his hand upwards to massage his temples, letting out a low moan. His head still fuzzy, and somehow missing his signature hat, Ash slowly pushed himself up and rose to his feet, legs slightly unsteady and head still sore from the unexpected landing.

Another loud moan soon caught his attention, and looking to his left Ash found Angie sprawled out on the floor besides him, eyes forced shut and clearly disorientated. Slapping the side of his head a few times to try and dispel any remaining dizziness, Ash kneeled down and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Hey, it's me. Are you alright?"

"Ah-Ash?" Angie's eyes flickered open and shut a few times before eventually the black haired boy's face came into view. Ash gave her his best effort at a reassuring smile and offered his right hand to her. After taking a moment to rub her eyes, Angie graciously took it. Ash gave the green-haired girl another half a minute to better come to her senses, then gingerly helped Angie to her feet.

Angie took a deep breath, slapped the sides of her head in the same manner as Ash had a moment prior, looked the now cap-less wonder in the eye and asked "So… what the HELL just happened?!"

"Reality collapsed around you, plunging you both into an abyss of infinite nothingness from which you're lucky I was able to recover you both in time"

Angie barely registered any of that reply, as the moment the booming voice had sounded off behind her the girl leapt forward with a yelp, bumping headlong into Ash and almost causing them both to tumble to the ground again.

Steadying himself and the spooked tomboy once more hanging onto his torso, Ash looked in the direction of the regal voice. Raising his head quite a bit, the boy saw a pair of familiar red eyes staring down on him. Eyes that belonged to a very large Pokemon he knew quite well.

"Oh… Hey Arceus" Said Ash. Angie pushed herself off of him, stared incredulously into his eyes for a moment before spinning her head to face the towering figure of a white and gray, strangely equine creature with a golden ring around it's body. A being that any child that grew up in Sinnoh would be intimately familiar with.

"It's been a while, Ash Ketchum. I must apologize that we must meet again under such dire circumstances" Said Arceus.

Angie made a noise that Ash was sure only a spooked dragonite should have been able to make.

"Uh… okay" Ash wasn't sure how else to respond for a moment, but eventually asked "Was everything that just happened because of you?"

Arceus's face seemed incapable of making expressions, but somehow it still looked a bit annoyed to Ash for a moment.

"No… no. I had nothing to do with that mess. I'm afraid the truth is… complicated" Arceus replied, sounding rather aprehensive.

Ash noticed Angie staring at him with an expression that clearly read "What the f###?".

He could only respond with a sheepish grin and a meek "Long story". After a moment the shock melted off Angie's face and was replaced with a look of exasperation, which then turned into an almost sarcastic frown.

"I don't know why you bothered saving the girl. This would all go a lot quicker with just Ash Ketchum" Ash and Angie winced, turning to see another figure standing besides one of the many pillars in the white hallway. The voice appeared to belong to a tall man with curly black hair, adorned in an all-white… disco suit? Neither Ash or Angie were quite sure what he was wearing, but other than that he looked quite normal.

Normal to the point he really stood out in a place like this.

"Angie was holding onto Ash when reality collapsed around them, I would have little option other than to recover her too. And besides, I would have gladly saved everyone from your meddling" Arceus responded, the great beast's regal voice dripping with venom. Ash got the distinct impression from the shine in his eyes that the Alpha Pokemon wanted to cast "Judgement" on the strange man at that exact moment.

For his part, the mystery man just threw up his hands calmly, putting them behind his head as he began strutting closer to where Ash and Angie stood.

"Oh, very well, no harm done. Who knows…" Angie recoiled a bit as the man passed her, staring down and examining her face. He smirked "She might make the game more interesting"

"Game?" Angie asked, glaring back at him with an unsure expression. A low growl reverberated across the white halls, and Angie fell silent again as she remembered the literal creator deity of her world was standing only a few feet away from her.

The man was far less perturbed by this, in fact he looked like he wanted to laugh at the God's agitation.

"You both might want to make yourselves comfortable" At Arceus's words two armchairs appeared before Ash and Angie

"We have… much to discuss"

Taking the hint, the two teens sat down in the chairs as the mystery man strolled over to the Alpha Pokemon's side. Ash's suspicions that Arceus did not like this person at all gained a bit more credibility as Arceus inched away from him quickly after and glared down at him. The man had no reaction to this, just rubbing his hands together and looking at Ash with an almost childish level of excitement.

"So… before I begin, I believe it's custom to ask if you both have any questions?" Said Arceus. Ash felt Angie's hand fly into the air besides him "Yes, miss Angie, go ahead"

"Um, well, okay, um…" Angie stammered, taking another long moment to compose herself before continuing "Are you Arceus?"

"Well he sure isn't the Living Tribunal" The mystery man joked. Again, it should have been hard to tell given his seeming inability to make facial expressions, but Ash was sure Arceus did not look amused.

"Yes, I am Arceus. Also known in your myths by the title of The Original One" Arceus replied curtly.

"HOLY COW! I mean-Horse!" Angie yelped, then after a moment realised what she said and shrunk back into the armchair, looking mighty embarrassed "I'm sorry, oh Lord... That was stupid of me"

"No offense taken. You're handling this situation better than I would expect most children after being abruptly plunged into darkness" Arceus responded calmly. Angie scratched her cheek sheepishly. She then noticed Ash looking over at her with some concern and something clicked in her head.

"Hold the phone-Ash, why aren't you freaking out?! And why'd Arceus greet you earlier like it knows you already?" Angie asked. Ash shrugged.

"Because he does" Ash replied simply "Dialga sent me, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu back in time to save its life once, so I guess we're kinda friends. Also it helped us one other time in Kalos when Hoopa kinda screwed up reality, but we didn't really get to talk that time"

Angie looked at Ash like he'd just sprouted 6 heads and sang the Unovan national anthem 3 times backwards.

"I'm pretty sure she's more confused now than ever" The mystery main said with some amusement. Arceus sighed.

"I understand that with all the legendary Pokemon you've encountered and larger than life incidents you've been involved in, Ash Ketchum, this situation is probably only mildly unusual for you at best. But I feel it prudent to inform you: Most people don't consider it an average Tuesday to be summoned to the hall of Origin by the creator of all Pokemon"

"Um… sorry, but how was I supposed to explain it?" Ash inquired. Angie sighed deeply and held up a hand.

"You know Arceus for some reason, and that's all I really want to know for the moment. You can tell me the whole story later, but right now I think I'd be happy with just some context as to what the heck is even going on" Said Angie.

"Smart girl. This is taking longer than I'd like anyway, let's get to the long-winded exposition so the fun can begin" The mystery man piped up again.

By now, Ash was quite certain Arceus wanted to throttle this person and cast him into a black hole.

"I supposed I should start with an introduction" Arceus growled "This man is known simply as The Beyonder. He's from another universe"

Ash and Angie's eyes widened and they both stared at the strange man in bemusement. The now identified Beyonder waved at them casually with a calm smirk on his face.

"He is a being of great cosmic importance who possesses the power to control and alter reality itself… recklessly and selfishly so, because he is now solely responsible for destroying our universe"

Ash and Angie shot up to their feet, gaping in sheer horror as their minds raced to process that dire information.

"Oh, don't scare them like that. The universe isn't destroyed… it's simply been taken apart piece by piece so I can rearrange it into something more intriguing" The Beyonder said, looking very proud of himself.

The looks of horror on Ash and Angie's faces quickly gave way to bemusement, and then utter disgust.

"You tore my creation asunder as part of a sick game, you twisted freak! Don't you dare make light of that!" Arceus bellowed, stamping a hoof in the Beyonder's direction, eyes glowing a blazing red as the Alpha Pokemon looked about ready to attack. The curly haired man only seemed to grow more amused as he wagged a finger at him in a "Tut tut" fashion.

"Keep in mind that the fragments of your universe are bound to my being now, Arceus. Any harm you do to me would risk the fabric of your reality fading away into nothingness" The Beyonder lectured. Arceus growled even more viciously, but the threat was enough to get the large Pokemon to take a step back and compose himself.

"I'll start again from the beginning for clarity. This man is a cosmic Deity of sorts from what's known as the Marvel Universe. He's apparently grown bored of his own universe and has been going around and observing other universes. He's fond of ripping apart planets and stitching them together, starting conflicts between various groups of beings in an effort to amuse himself" Arceus explained.

"A most entertaining experience that was, but I longed for something more" The Beyonder Interrupted, throwing his hands into the air in some sort of grand gesture "I wanted to test my powers to their full extreme. Taking pieces of the universe and smashing them together into my own little playground is one thing, but what if I could rewrite reality as a whole? What if I could turn back time, change the entire story of a world and it's people?"

"This foolish being broke all the divine laws of the multiverse and merged his soul with the very core of this universe, and tore reality apart so he could remake it again, rewriting history in the process" Arceus cut in. Ash and Angie both swore loudly.

"You say that as though I've done something heinous" The Beyonder mused "I just thought this quaint little world of yours could be made a little more interesting if I spiced things up. Is a little home remodelling really such a crime in your eyes?"

"YOU RIPPED MY UNIVERSE INTO PIECES AND DESTROYED AN ENTIRE TIMELINE FOR YOUR SICK CURIOUSITY! YOU HAD NO RIGHT!" This time when Arceus slammed his hoof it created a shockwave that sent Ash and Angie flying back into their armchairs and caused the entire Hall of Origin to rumble. The Beyonder however remained firmly in place, even his clothes didn't seem to move.

"Well, yes, any action would sound bad if you described it with that nasty attitude" The Beyonder shot back sarcastically. As Arceus trembled with barely-surpressed rage, Ash shook his head to regain his senses and leapt to his feet again.

"Why would you do something like that?!" Ash demanded. The Beyonder glanced at him and shrugged.

"Because why not?" He offered. He could tell by the look on Ash's face that it was an unsatisfactory answer, so he sighed to himself and continued "Being a cosmic deity on my level gets rather boring after a certain number of eons. There's little for me to do but observe the machinations of reality, and the actions of the mortals that inhabit the universe from which I originated. For a while that was interesting… but then simply hanging back and observing got boring, and I yearned for a chance to make my own entertainment"

"There was a time where I became aware of a particular planet in my universe called Earth. It was a world filled with people called Superheroes and Super Villains, the very paragons of the ideals of Good and Evil. I found their conflict fascinating, so devised a fun little game where I would create a grand stage made of parts of various worlds throughout the cosmos, and gather a bunch of these heroes and villains together on it for a grand battle to decide which of their ideals was superior"

As he talked, the Beyonder began pacing around the halls, not even bothering to glance at Ash as he strolled past him and began circling the two armchairs "It was a glorious sight to behold… but when it was all over, I began to wonder… what next? What more could possibly satisfy my insatiable curiosity now that I had the answer to the question "Is good or evil stronger"?"

The Beyonder stopped at the same pillar he had originally been standing against, leaning into it with a deeply thoughtful look on his face. After a moment of silence, his face lit up with a 'Eureka' expression "Then in my search for greater purpose, I became aware that other universes existed beyond the edges of my own reality. Enlightened and ecstatic, I left my universe and began exploring the rest of the multiverse. I saw many strange and wonderful new worlds. A planet where giant beasts ran rampant. A world populated by colourful, anthropomorphic animals, some of whom had strange powers not unlike the superheroes of Earth"

"But it was your universe that I found the most intriguing" The Beyonder said in a tone Ash and Angie found spine-chillingly ominous. The Beyonder put on a devilish smile before slipping behind the golden pillar, disappearing from sight.

Ash leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at the pillar... then clenched his teeth and held in a frightened gasp as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, and the Beyonder's voice began whispering in his ear.

"Out of all the world's I've witnessed, your World of Pokemon has the most... potential"

Ash shoved the hand off his shoulder and darted forward several feet, flipping around to glare uneasily at the strange man in white. From her chair Angie was staring at him in bemusement, unable to figure out how he'd so suddenly appeared behind Ash. The Beyonder flashed a set of glowing white teeth.

"Your world has it all... magic, futuristic technology, time travel, alien visitors, Gods of reality, countless interesting and varied cultures... it's the only world outside the universe where I originated where I truly got the sense that here, truly anything is possible... and that's not even getting into the Pokémon themselves! Such fascinating, beautiful creatures that can be anything the mind can imagine!"

The Beyonder held out his hands, and Ash and Angie's jaws dropped as a holographic image of a Charizard appeared above them "They can be dragons!" The hologram Charizard disappeared, being replaced by an image of a Palossand "Or a sandcastle!"

Palossand disappeared, and in turn holograms of Vanillite, Garbodor and Klefki flashed above the Beyonders hands "A cone of ice cream, a pile of living garbage, a set of keys!" Images of Pokémon started flashing by so quickly Ash and Angie couldn't even register them all "Ghosts, and Golems, and animals, and machines! Musketeers, fruit, dinosaurs and I don't even have words to describe what kind of creature Jynx is!"

The holograms stopped appearing as the Beyonder clapped his hands together and gave Ash a wide smile, that was filled with mirth and wonder yet was somehow so creepy and unnatural that Ash was compelled to take several steps back and cringe.

And that feeling only grew inside Ash when the Beyonder started sizing him up with a most suspicious stare.

"And you, Ash Ketchum" The Beyonder began in a hushed tone, rubbing his hands together and somehow widening his already impossible grin "... Above all the people in this world... you were the one I found most... intriguing..."

Ash's face drooped.

"... Me?" Ash asked, a dumbfounded expression plastered across his face.

"Him?" Angie said straight afterwards, equally confused.

The Beyonder stroked his fingers again and looked at Ash in a way that really made him want to request the presence of a mature adult.

"It's a most remarkable thing, really... ever since you set out on your Pokémon Journey, the entire overarching story of this world and it's inhabitants seems to have bent over backwards to revolve itself mainly around you" The Beyonder explained.

Ash and Angie's eyebrows reached the tops of their heads, and they gave the Beyonder imploring stares "Every time a legendary runs loose in modern times... every time a new villainous team sets out to enact their grand master plans... every time something big, potentially world changing happens... it almost always revolves around you and whatever friends you're travelling with. And the few times something noteworthy happens without your immediate involvement, it always seems to involve people with past or future connections to you in some way"

"If your world was a story of some sort, you'd be the main character, Ash Ketchum" The Beyonder said. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, then to Ash's continuously growing shock reappeared directly in front of the normally hat-wearing trainer, grabbing hold of his shoulders and leaning in close to his face, eyes lit up with curiosity "Tell me, my boy... how did you accomplish that? What is it about you that gives you the privilege of having a whole world's fate continuously link back to you?"

Ash grabbed the Beyonder's hands on his shoulders and pulled them off with a bit of struggle, staggering back to get away from the cosmic crazy head. He looked uncertainly at the Beyonder, mulling his insinuations over, not even knowing where to begin on a sensible answer.

Luckily it seems he didn't have to as Arceus suddenly piped up with a response, reminding all present that he was still around "There's no special reason why Ash so often gets involved in so many events that shape the fate of the world, as I kept telling you. As far as I can tell, he really is nothing more than a regular human boy, remarkable only for the fact that he's brave, sincere, hard working and has a pure heart and genuine desire to befriend and do right by others. All great qualities to be admired... but not a one of them is particularly special or unique, not even lumped together all at once. There are countless other people in the world with hearts as strong as Ash... it just appears to be a strange, humorous string of coincidences that he keeps conveniently wandering into larger than life situations"

The Beyonder shook his head somewhat distastefully at the towering Alpha Pokémon "I remain convinced that there must be more to it, and you're just not looking at it from the right angles" He said, suddenly sounding a bit like a mad conspiracy theorist.

The Beyonder then turned back to Ash and stroked his chin, suddenly putting on a teasing smirk and chuckling sarcastically "Although, I suppose I can see why you might initially assume that... if the world does contort itself to make this one human it's ever reliable saviour, then it must be very selfish or have a cruel sense of humour, what with the poor job it seems to do rewarding him for his heroics, where his own personal ambitions are concerned"

Ash cocked his head curiously, and the Beyonder laughed some more "Tell me, oh "Chosen One", not counting that minor league from the Orange Islands, how many regional leagues did you have to challenge before you finally earned the title of Champion?"

"Seven" Ash answered, giving the humanoid deity an odd look "... What does that have to do with anything?"

The Beyonder shrugged, flashing Ash a cheeky grin "It just seems a bit unfair, doesn't it? All you ever wanted to do was be a Pokémon Master, right? You save the world time and time again, defying all odds... and yet you're constantly forced to settle for runner up status at the things that actually matter to you. The world constantly expects you to save it, but you still have to break your back working your way up the ladder of success, and at times it even looked like the world was actively cheating you out of what should have been your big breaks. I mean, where did that fellow with the Darkrai and Latios even come from?" The Beyonder shook his head "It all just seems kind of hilarious, doesn't it? Saviour of the world, but can't catch a break on your own personal agendas... from an outsiders perspective, you must sound pretty pathetic"

Ash clenched his fists and glared at the smart mouthed deity. Grinding his teeth, Ash felt like retorting, but Arceus beat him to it.

"Most trainers could only dream of having a League record as good as Ash's. He worked hard and progressed quite naturally as a trainer, and his unwavering resolve paid off greatly in the end" Arceus said sagely "Why should the world bend over backwards to give him total victories just because he's a heroic individual? It's not pathetic, he's only human. No one can be perfect at everything. There's no shame in losing, in fact it's admirable that he managed to learn from those failures until he finally rose to the top"

Ash smiled gratefully at Arceus, and very smugly at the Beyonder, who just waved his hand dismissively and rolled his eyes "Oh, give the boring, overplayed after school special lessons a rest. We all know nobody actually cares about any of that, only the winners of those tournaments were considered successful by most!"

Ash frowned and dryly snapped "And nobody actually cares about your boring opinions, either" His frown turned more aggressive "And what does my league record have to do with anything?! I asked why you went and destroyed the world... why are you suddenly talking about me!"

The Beyonder let out an electronic laugh, that strangely seemed to echo throughout the entire hall of origin, sending shivers down Ash and Angie's spines and even causing Arceus to frown. The Beyonder started walking towards Ash, who nervously backed away until he bumped into Arceus's leg. The Beyonder stopped right in front of Ash and poked him hard in the chest.

"Because, my dear boy..." The Beyonder's eyes seemed to sparkle "... You happen to be the linchpin for my greatest game of all!"

Ash raised an eyebrow. The Beyonder clapped his hands, and suddenly Ash found himself sat back in his armchair. Ash blinked and looked down at himself before exchanging a bewildered frown with Angie from the armchair next to him.

With a second clap the Beyonder summoned up his own purple arm chair to the left of Arceus, who appeared to be rolling his glowing red eyes. The Beyonder sat down in the arm chair, crossing his legs and making himself cozy. When he succeeded at that, he held his hands together again as if in prayer and looked over at the still very confused teenagers.

"We've dragged this out long enough, so let's get to the point" The Beyonder insisted "Your creator deity here needs to hibernate every so often to recharge his powers. During his most recent slumber, I merged myself with the core of this universe, and then started reducing the very fabric of reality and the nucleus of all living things, as well as the very history of the world itself, into a sort of... primordial stew, I suppose is the closest equivalent, as your race would probably comprehend it... though obviously actual primordial stew does not include the actual concept of time and space itself. Even the deities you have here to govern the concepts were blinked into existence by-"

"I sensed what he was doing part way through, and it awoke me from my slumber!" Arceus interrupted "I rushed to confront him... but by then it was too late. He gave me an odd instruction... "Save Ash Ketchum", which I did as quickly as I could in the circumstances. I grabbed you both right before your states of being were reduced to... cosmic primordial stew, I suppose we're calling it now, along with everything else. I had to keep you in suspended animation for a while, as I discussed certain matters with this pathetic excuse for a minor deity here"

"Wait, what?" Ash scratched his head.

"It's basically like we were frozen in time until he unfroze us" Angie clarified.

"Oh, okay" Ash nodded, looking curiously at Arceus "How long were we like that?"

"About half a day" The Beyonder responded before Arceus could, rubbing his hands together excitedly "Long and short of it is... we made a bet. The winner gets complete control and dominion over your universe"

"WHAT!?" Angie screamed, shooting to her feet and glaring incredulously at the Beyonder, and then furiously at Arceus. There was still a nervous look in her eyes as she addressed the creator deity, her reverence for the God Pokémon still very apparent. But she had clearly settled into the absurdity of the situation she was in by now enough to push past that and give the Alpha Pokémon a piece of her riled up mind "Why the heck would you need to make a bet like that... YOU'RE ARCEUS? Can't you just... I dunno… beat this guy up a bit, and make him put everything back to normal and leave?"

"Much as I'd like to, my hooves are tied" Arceus said, rolling his eyes "You might have missed it or forgotten this detail, but as our… parasite over here mentioned before, if I inflict any harm on him, it would have disastrous consequences" The equine Pokémon sighed deeply "Basically, the long and short of it is... he IS the core of the universe now... everything from the world you know is connected to his being. If any harm is inflicted on him, aspects of the world could be obliterated... and if I were to kill him, the universe and everything in it would cease to exist entirely... including the afterlife... everyone you ever knew and loved, and you yourselves, would be deader than dead"

Ash and Angie put on expressions of pure shock, gulping nervously.

"Technically!" Arceus said, tapping his front right hoof and staring curiously at the ceiling "I COULD kill The Beyonder, let the universe be destroyed and remake it again exactly as it was... but apart from the fact that would take about a billion years, it wouldn't actually be restoring what was lost... the current universe would still be gone, you and all the other mortals in it wouldn't actually be revived... you'd all just be replaced by copies of yourselves. And I don't really like that idea very much, do you?"

Ash and Angie meekly shook their heads, the latter sitting back down and rubbing her head, looking like she might have a breakdown. Arceus chuckled darkly.

"Very good then. So you can understand why I had to approach this situation with caution" Arceus said. The Alpha Pokémon heaved a low sigh and paused for a moment, which seemed to annoy the Beyonder who kept tapping the right arm of his chair impatiently.

It was with a more remorseful tone that Arceus continued "... I should have been more prepared for this situation, I admit... but I never expected something like this. At the dawn of the multiverse, the higher deities made a pact to not interfere in the order of each others worlds... but this creature before us is what we call a new god, a youngster... he's not sworn to the same restrictions. I wasn't really aware of his kind until this happened, I don't commune much with outside universes..."

Arceus shook its head, a look of great shame in his eyes as he looked between Ash and Angie "I apologize for this whole mess... but there really is precious little I can do other than barter with this fool. He holds almost all the cards right now... the only leverage I have is that I am still more powerful than him when unrestrained, and could ultimately destroy him if I so choose... but again, that's the least preferable option, so... I'm just going to let him explain to you the specifics of his bet"

And with that the Beyonder smiled, bounced to his feet and snapped his fingers, making his purple arm chair poof back out of existence. Ash and Angie irritably watched the "New God" do some light stretches and crack his neck before he started rubbing his hands together again.

"As I've said... I wish to make my own fun. Weave tales of wonder and intrigue that could keep me entertained for the duration of my existence" The Beyonder said. He suddenly scratched his chin and looked put down "The problem I've always had is, I'm just not very good at coming up with my own original ideas for a good story. That's why I resort to taking ones already in progress, and twisting them into something that more suits my taste. In that way, I guess I'm sort of like a... hmm... what's a good term for it?"

"A creepily obsessed fanfiction writer, but with actual peoples lives" Angie snarled.

The Beyonder half shrugged, rolling his eyes and regarding her with an odd mix of contempt for her tone, and respect for her boldness "I suppose that's an ineloquent way to phrase it..."

The Beyonder shook his head and rounded on Ash, smiling again "Also as I've said, I find you and your talent for getting into interesting, fate of the world scenarios fascinating, Ash Ketchum... so here's my proposition. I'm going to recreate your universe with an altered timeline. I'll send you into this universe to partake in a special quest... if you win, I will restore the timeline to how it's supposed to be, relinquish control of your universe to Arceus and leave forever. Sounds fair, right?"

Ash crossed his arms and leaned back into his armchair, frowning contemplatively at the Beyonder "... What kind of quest?"

"I'm going to send you back in time... back to the night before you first became a Pokémon Trainer" The Beyonder said, smirking deviously "You'll have to retrace your steps throughout your entire previous journeys... compete in all the same leagues, including the Orange Islands, and also I want you to compete in the battle Frontier again. Once you've done that, you must rechallenge the Pokémon World Championships, as you have been doing"

...

Ash stared blankly at the Beyonder for a moment, and then facepalmed, recalling something he'd said to Angie right before reality started collapsing.

_'Ugh... Mankey's paw...'_

Ash massaged his temples for a moment and then glared expectantly at the Beyonder "Is that all?"

"Yes..." The Beyonder nodded. Then he wagged his finger at the trainer "Oh, but you see, there's a couple of catches!"

"Of course" Ash and Angie said tiredly.

"One!" The Beyonder said, raising the hand with the already extended index finger into the air "The world you enter will be a remade one, with many differences from the one you know. Some small, and quite random... others large and sweeping! Just for fun, I'm even going to merge your world with several others I've encountered over my multiversal travels"

"..." Ash and Angie balked at the Beyonder "... Why?"

"Because even with the changes I'm going to make to your world, it should still resemble the one you know closely enough that I worry things might still be predictable enough for you to be unfairly prepared for everything I throw at you. And I think adding in a bunch of new elements you have no experience with at all would make things very unpredictable and exciting for me to watch" The Beyonder replied, shaking his hands eagerly.

Ash grumbled, clutching the sides of his chair. He had some choice words for the creep in front of him, but decided to save them for later.

"What else?" Ash asked through gritted teeth, and the Beyonder extended his middle finger along with the index one that was already raised.

"Two... you can't afford to be a perpetual loser this time..." The Beyonder said in a mocking tone, which made Ash blink "To win the bet, you have to win at least five out of seven of the League Tournaments you originally competed in from Kanto to Alola, along with the Orange League and the Battle Frontier Challenges... and then, if you make it that far without screwing up, you must enter into the Master Class of the Pokémon World Championships and become the World Champion by the end of the season... and you can't cheat by entering the World Championships early, this time around. You MUST enter and start working your way up the same time as before"

Ash and Angie were both left dumbstruck for a good while after that, quietly and uneasily processing that information. Eventually the Beyonder started to get bored of their silence, so raised a third finger.

"Three. You must defeat every single villain team you fought previously again, before the conclusion of the league from the regions you respectively fought them in. Which also means, you can't wait until AFTER the Kalos League to face Team Flare again, for example"

Ash shook his head, getting over his shock from the previous rule and scratching his arm, still looking uncomfortable and nervous "Um... okay. I can do that"

The Beyonder raised his little finger, putting on the most malicious smile Ash and Angie had seen from him yet.

"And four" The Beyonder leaned so his face was right in front of Ash's "You're not the only one playing the game... you're the Champion of good, working on behalf of Arceus, but I will personally pick out a Champion of evil to fight against you on my behalf. My Champion will devise wicked schemes and orchestrate great challenges and obstacles for you and your companions to overcome from behind the scenes... doing everything in their power to try and destroy you... so, yeah. Watch out for that. Mwahaha"

Ash grimaced as the Beyonder pulled away from Ash and took many steps backwards. The young trainer gulped, but tried very hard to shake off any fear he had and glare at the Beyonder defiantly, refusing to let the creep have the satisfaction of seeing him look terrified.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly, Ash fixed the Beyonder with a stern frown "... And what happens if I lose, and you win then?"

Arceus turned away from the scene playing out in front of him, scratching the ground anxiously. From her own armchair Angie held her breath. And standing between them all, the Beyonder lowered his hand, stared unblinkingly at Ash for a whole minute... and then let out another of those electronic laughs that echoed through the bright marble halls.

"If you lose the bet" The Beyonder started, that unnaturally wide grin he sported before returning in full, horrifying glory "... Then the universe becomes my permanent plaything! I will have complete control over this universe, over your timeline... I will be free to reshape it, alter it, over and over and over again, for all of eternity!"

All colour had by now faded from Ash and Angie's faces. For a moment they couldn't even breath... the only responses they could make were to stare in absolute horror at the cruel God.

Arceus let out a mournful sigh, turning to Ash with a desperate look in his red eyes.

"I resent having to go along with this... to force such a heavy burden on your shoulder, Ash Ketchum" Arceus said, and he did sound completely sincere "... I just want you to know... I have complete faith in you. You shouldn't have to do this... I hope once this is over I can make it up to you, and all the denizens of your world for this madness... but now is not the time for me to angst. I promise to advise and assist you, in whatever limited capacity this freak of nature will allow. But please... I need you to be strong, and face this challenge with the same unrelenting determination that led you to being the great and wonderful trainer you have become... for all of our sakes, please give it your all!"

Angie stared worryingly at Ash, who was facing away from her so she couldn't see his face... but his body language made it plainly clear how heavily this whole situation was weighing on him.

Angie sighed sadly. she tried to reach out and place a comforting hand on his shoulder, wanted desperately to say something that could ease his conscience and reassure her friend that everything would be okay... but she pulled back and held her tongue, too afraid that anything she might say could come out wrong, or just make Ash feel worse.

Ash and Angie's attentions then quickly snapped back to the Beyonder as the cruel God suddenly began laughing hysterically "You know, it occurs to me... win or lose, however our little game turns out... I still come out on top, in the end"

Ash gripped the arms of his chair, narrowing his eyes as the Beyonder's amused chortle grew louder "The whole point of this endeavor was to kill time and entertain myself... obviously it would be a lot better for me if I won, and got to play around with your World as much as I wanted going forward. But I fully expect you to put on a good show whatever happens, so if you win, I'm still granted a good few years of solid entertainment!"

Ash grasped the arms of his chair so hard his fingers poked holes through the material. The Beyonder didn't seem to notice as his laughter died down, and the childish God stared up at the ceilings of the hall of Origin with a content smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm so looking forward to starting this game"

Angie stuck out her tongue, groaning in utter disgust at the childish deity before her. She put a palm to her forehead and began massaging her temples "This is all so STUPID, I swear..." She turned to Ash... and raised her eyebrows, watching him grind his teeth and glare daggers at the Beyonder.

"Do you..." Ash growled, his whole body trembling with barely suppressed rage. The Beyonder lowered his head, the relaxed smile on his face being replaced with a look of intrigue. In the background Arceus hummed quietly, watching carefully as Ash continued "... You keep calling all of this a game... do you just not understand how awful you're being?"

The Beyonder narrowed his eyes, waving his hand as though urging Ash to elaborate. Ash groaned indignantly, but followed through "You messed up the whole world... you're playing around with billions of lives! People and Pokemon! You must know that isn't fair to them!"

Ash slammed his hands down on the side of the armchair, staring desperately, incredulously at the deity "I don't know how things work in your universe, but... surely, you know it's cruel to put other people's lives at risk just so you can have fun!? Put yourself in all of those people's position... how would YOU feel if somebody did what you're doing to you?!"

"Hmm" The Beyonder said, scratching his chin and actually looking deep in thought for a long moment. Ash's bubbling frustration actually began to ease up slightly, bit by bit, and he watched on with a hopeful, pleading expression to the foreign deity.

But then the Beyonder just casually shrugged and smiled impishly at the young trainer.

"Oh, I actually understand how you would all feel about this quite well" The Beyonder said, in a whimsical tone that made Ash furrow his brow again suspiciously. The Beyonder's smile turned teasing "... I just don't care"

Ash's blood boiled

"Why in the name of creation should I care about the well being of you lesser creatures... I am a God!" The Beyonder said, holding out his hands impressively "A superior being! Most of you mortals only exist for a hundred years at most, and almost none of you accomplish anything even slightly significant in the grand scheme of reality... but I have existed for eons, and I will continue to live until the end of time! What do I have to worry for you mortals beyond how much your antics can amuse me?"

"Does anyone actually mourn when an ant is crushed?" The Beyonder mused, shaking his head pitifully at Ash "It's the same principal, from where I'm standing... maybe there'll be casualties from my meddling, but that should be well worth it so long as it serves to better my existence"

"You piece of crap!" Angie snapped, shaking a fist at the Beyonder.

Ash did one further and leapt to his feet, charged at the Beyonder and threw a hard punch. The Beyonder merely blinked, and Ash froze in place the instant before his fist made contact with the God's chest.

"Ah... this looks familiar? The Mewtwo method, correct?" The Beyonder said, shaking his head and going "Tut tut" to Ash, who was too overwhelmed by rage to think too clearly about that comment and just glared at the Beyonder's face as though hoping the sheer fury of his gaze would burn a hole into his forehead "Now, how did this go again... ah, right!"

And with a casual wave of the Beyonder's hand, Ash was sent flying backwards. Angie gasped and tried to get up and catch him, but Ash went by too quickly, flying right past the two armchairs. A blue aura lit up around the hot-headed teenager's body and forced him to a gentle stop right before he hit a marble wall. The blue energy carried Ash back to his armchair, lowering him down gently into it. Ash blinked in surprise, then looked up to see Arceus's normally red eyes glowing a mystic blue colour. They returned to their standard ruby red once the light around Ash had faded.

"... You're very amusing indeed, Ash Ketchum" The Beyonder chuckled, slowly stepping towards Ash and looking down on him with a mocking scowl "You really need to get over that hair-trigger temper of yours, though. Honestly I'd assumed you already had, you seem so much calmer and more laid back these days compared to, say, Hoenn... I suppose that's just a common vice with you mortals though. Always falling back on bad habits"

"I'll take your stupid bet!" Ash snarled. The Beyonder pursed his lips, giving a contemplative look to the boy staring at him with a fire in his eyes "And when I win... you'll keep your promise... or you'll regret it. And you can stop messing with people in other universes too!"

There was a burning sense of tension drifting through the air in the Hall of Origin for a minute that felt like hours to the four beings gathered there. Ash and The Beyonder's narrowed eyes were locked on one another's, daring the other to blink.

The moment finally ended when The Beyonder gave a derisive laugh and pushed Ash's head against the back of his armchair, before turning around and returning to stand besides Arceus once again.

Ash still remained unblinking as that happened, and watched the Beyonder retreat with an intense stare.

"I will restore your timeline, and the world you know, and leave this universe if that happens. As was the agreement I made with your creator" The Beyonder flipped around to face Ash again with a supremely arrogant smirk "But I make no further promises to you. No mortal man can intimidate me... also, you're getting ahead of yourself! There's a good chance you might lose, remember"

"I'll win" Ash said, quietly but with great conviction.

Arceus sighed deeply, taking several calm steps towards the twin armchairs "You won't have to do it alone"

The God of Pokemon's eyes began glowing green this time... a similar shade to the aura that surrounded Ash's right hand immediately after. Ash's serious expression briefly faltered and he began flailing the shrouded hand around in a panic, mildly concerning Angie. Eventually the green energy faded, and Ash settled down to curiously examine the thick black "20" mark now emblazoned on the back of his hand.

"Like I said, I had some leverage to bargain with our foe" Arceus said. Ash and Angie looked up at the God's expressionless face with wide eyes "I managed to get him to agree that you perform best with the help of your friends. So we're going to grant you the ability to restore the memories of those you know of the original timeline, so that they may most effectively be able to provide you assistance on this journey"

"Originally it was going to be a hard twenty limit" The Beyonder said from nearby, rolling his eyes distastefully "But the overgrown lama twisted my arm, and so we agreed to give you your closest companions for free"

"Place your hand anywhere on an allies' person, and will them to remember, and their memories will be restored. Like he said, all of your old travelling companions, from Misty and Brock to Goh, and all of the Pokemon you have caught over the years, you will be able to remind without any restrictions. As well as that Rotom that resides in a Pokedex and that girl Chloe, because I don't really know how to classify them. For every other person's memory you restore, however, the number on your hand will lower. Once it hits zero, you will lose the ability to remind anyone else apart from any outstanding best friends and Pokemon you haven't encountered by that point. So I suggest you choose wisely, whose services you wish to recruit for this quest" Arceus explained. After waiting for a moment to let Ash take all of that in he added "Just so you know... you can't remind literally anyone you want. They have to be someone you know fairly well, or had some sort of notable impact on, in your previous lives. You probably wouldn't be able to restore the memories of Faulkner, or Bugsy, for example"

Ash hummed thoughtfully, scratching the spot on his hand where the numbers were written along. He looked back up at Arceus and nodded gratefully.

"Um... okay, thanks" Ash said, scratching his head and smiling weakly "That sounds insanely useful"

"As an added bonus, I've also granted you the ability to understand what your Pokemon are saying after you remind them, to better your ability to communicate with them"

Ash and Angie stared silently at Arceus for a few seconds, blinking uncertainly.

"... Is that really necessary?" Angie wondered aloud.

Arceus raised his front right hoof and waved it around in what the two teens had to assume was the quadrupedal Pokemon's equivalent of a casual shrug "I don't know, I just thought it could come in handy..."

Ash stared oddly at Arceus, surprised by the awkward tone that seemed uncharacteristic for the Alpha Pokemon, but nodded along and said "Ok then, that's great... thank you"

Arceus nodded curtly to Ash, who after a moment of silent contemplation gingerly asked "... Is that all?"

"I'm not granting you any more special abilities, if that's what you mean" Arceus replied "A big part of this bet is that you must win the Leagues through your own skills, and only your human and Pokemon allies are allowed to assist you. I can't get directly involved, I can only offer you occasional advise... and on that note"

The Alpha Pokemon's eyes changed colour again, this time glowing a pure white. A large ball of light suddenly formed in front of the twin archairs, surprising Ash and Angie and causing them to lean back further into them. The ball convulsed several times before slowly changing form, until it became a shard of some sort of white crystal.

The crystal hovered over to float above Ash's lap briefly, the trainer raised a hand to let the jewel fall into his palm.

"Take special care to keep this crystal with you at all times" Arceus told Ash direly "When the time is right, it will grow, and your spirit will be briefly transported back here to the Hall of Origins so that we can commune further. You can contact me whenever you want after that, and I will try my best to offer you advise and help guide you along your quest. I can't tell you quite everything you might wish to know" Arceus glanced irritably at the Beyonder "But I will do my best to help you, despite my limited capacity. Until I can get in touch though, I urge you to think clearly and act rationally, and seek guidance from your human mentors like Professor Oak"

Ash nodded in understanding, turning the white crystal over and examining it closely. Angie leaned over to glance at the jewel herself. A look of discontent spread over her face as she looked up at the Alpha Pokemon "... What about me?"

Arceus turned his glowing red eyes on the green haired tomboy, who felt said orbs piercing through her. She rubbed her hands together anxiously, suddenly feeling butterflies in her stomach. After a long moment of plucking up her courage, Angie gave the creator of her universe a determined frown "What's my role in all of this?"

Arceus cocked its head, regarding Angie curiously. He let out an amused chuckle that reverberated across the halls.

"The challenge and the bet the invader and myself made around it was designed specially for Ash Ketchum" Arceus began, scratching the ground curiously with his hoof "Technically, you don't need to do anything... but, if you wish to assist him-"

"I do!" Angie yelled, causing Ash's eyes to widen at her and Arceus to let out another, rather proud chuckle.

"I thought so. In which case" Arceus's eyes started glowing green again, as did both of Angie's hands. The girl in green took it a lot better than Ash, but still had a slightly fearful look as she watched the mysterious green energy swirl around her hands for a minute before slowly dissipating "... I've granted you the power to heal almost any severe injury. Works on the same principal as Ash's reminding trick, just put your hands over a wound and will it to heal... it might make you dizzy the first few dozen times, until your used to it. Don't ever try to overexert yourself... you can't exactly bring back the dead with this ability. I don't really have much more to offer you at the moment, if I think of anything else I'll talk it through with our enemy and see if I can grant you another ability. Your role will be to help Ash as one of his travelling companions, help him to defeat the various villains of this world and whatever the Beyonder's "Champion of Evil" throw at him, and basically help keep him alive and help him train for the various tournaments he will have to win"

Angie turned her hands over a few times a few times, examining them closely before blinking at Arceus "... Okay then... you know, I kinda live pretty far away from Ash... how do I-"

"As luck would have it, you not only turned ten and became a trainer two months before Ash himself, but you visited Kanto right after he set out on his journey" Arceus cut in. Ash and Angie's eyes turned white from shock "Ash set out on his journey on April first, nearly seven years ago now... on the fifth of that same month, you travelled to Kanto by yourself, going on your first vacation without your parents to stay with your aunt Winry, near Cerulean City... the sight of Ash's second Gym Battle. My proposition is that you inform your parents you wish to go on a Pokemon Journey yourself before you leave for that vacation this time around, and wait at your Aunt Winry's farm until Ash passes by, so the two of you can meet up again. You can work out your own plans for how you're both going to go about completing this quest when you're done"

Angie leaned back in her chair, a distant look in her face as she tried to process that information. After half a minute she clenched her teeth, scratching the side of her left arm awkwardly and looking away from Arceus with a flustered expression "... That's going to be an awkward conversation with my parents..." She hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then furrowed her brow. Shaking her head, she looked back to Arceus and firmly said "But okay. Count me in!"

Arceus stared wordlessly down at Angie for a long moment before giving her an approving nod. Angie felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to see Ash giving her a serious frown.

"Are you really sure you want to do this, Angie?" Ash asked. Angie raised an eyebrow at him, and he leaned closer to place his hand firmly on her right shoulder "I skimped over a lot of stuff, telling you about my journey... but you should know, fighting all those villain teams, and all the other bad guys I ran into along the way and all the other crazy stuff that happened... it was a lot more dangerous than I probably made it sound. I don't really know how we all pulled through half the times... and it sounds like things are going to be a lot more dangerous and weird, from what that guy was saying. You don't really have to do this, you can go home and relax... I have a lot of friends to help me. I'm sure you could be a great help, and I'd appreciate it, but... I dunno, I just want you to make sure you know what you're asking to get into here"

Angie considered the hand on her shoulder for a brief moment, then fixed Ash with a firm stare.

"... Apart from the fact I can't just ignore everything that's going on, so no, I don't think I have a choice to just back out without being a jerk... I WANT to help out" Angie told Ash, gently removing his hand from her shoulder. Ash blinked slowly at her "You're my friend... and it's my world too!"

Ash blinked at Angie a few more times, then smirked proudly at her. Angie's determined expression faltered for a brief moment as she let out and exasperated sigh and rubbed her forehead, smiling nervously "... I'll admit, this is all a load of crazy nonsense that makes my head hurt a little..." Her smile turned more confident again and she lowered her hand "But I'm not gonna let that stop me from giving it my all anyway!"

"Angie..." Ash said, giving the tomboy a smile of admiration "... Thank you"

Angie nodded, giving Ash a similar smile and extending a fist towards. Him. Ash chuckled before raising his own fist.

Ash and Angie fist bumped, stared at one another for a moment, and then giggled.

The sight made The Beyonder roll his eyes and groan, leading him to tap his hands and make the armchairs Ash and Angie were sitting on vanish into thin air. The two teens fell on their backs against the marble floors, groaning in sudden pain and irritation.

"When this is over and the universe isn't at risk of collapsing, I vote we have Arceus hold that guy down so we can both punch him in the face afterwards" Angie furiously grumbled. Ash groaned in agreement.

"That would be delightful" Arceus said under his breath.

When Ash and Angie finally rose to their feet, the Beyonder startled them once more by teleporting behind them to tap both their shoulders.

"Well, I guess that's all for today. Time to get started!"

Ash and Angie flipped around to balk at the man in white.

"Wait, NOW?!" Ash yelled indignantly.

"Now" The Beyonder nodded. He waved his hand irritably at the teens looking incredulously at him "Or in about a minute, if that suits you better"

"But there's still so much I'm confused about!" Angie screamed, throwing her arms up, a process Ash mimicked with a loud "Yeah!"

"It'll have to wait" Arceus sighed, rolling his eyes and stamping his hoof to get the frantic trainers' attentions on him "This idiot is an incredibly impatient sort. Frankly, it's a miracle he didn't send you headlong into his new timeline much sooner than this with far less explained. I'll contact you at a convenient time with that special jewel, Ash. Angie, you can send your spirit here too if you hold hands with Ash whenever he uses it to contact me"

Ash looked around frantically, realizing the white crystal he had been presented had fallen out of his hand after his chair disappeared beneath him. He had a hard time finding the jewel along the similarly coloured floors, so Arceus groaned lightly and used psychic to lift it back into Ash's hands.

"Keep. It. Safe!" Arceus lectured. Ash scratched his head and laughed nervously, gripping the jewel tightly in response.

"Hey wait... how am I supposed to even know where to find Ash in Cerulean City when he gets there?!" Angie suddenly yelped "I don't even have a way to contact him?!"

An opened notebook suddenly appeared, floating in front of Ash, along with a pen.

"He'll have a way to contact you if you would just kindly give him your home phone number" Arceus said simply. Ash and Angie chuckled awkwardly, and after Angie passed the number along he wrote it down on a sheet of paper that he quickly ripped out of the notebook, which promptly vanished along with the pen, leaving Ash holding only the white crystal and the piece of paper with the number for the Solaceon Daycare center "For the record Ash, there's a slight time zone difference between Kanto and Sinnoh, Sinnoh is behind by a few hours. You might want to phone her later in the afternoon after reaching the Viridian City Pokemon Center, it would probably be the most convenient point to do so while retracing your steps"

"Uh... alright" Ash nodded, gripping the piece of paper as tightly as the white crystal.

"There's another thing you should know" Arceus said, suddenly sounding very grim and serious "The longer the two of you remain in this new timeline and your bodies and minds begin to acclimate to it, the more you should experience memories of the lives you should have lead in this new reality. Flashbacks, most likely, though a few of them might be subconscious recollections you won't even notice were not related to your past lives"

Ash and Angie gaped up at the equine Pokemon, gulping nervously.

"That... sounds complicated" Ash said meekly.

"That's putting it lightly" Arceus said sarcastically. He shook his head and glared intently between Ash and Angie "Just be sure to always keep firmly in mind who the two of you really are, and where you come from... the point is to set the world BACK to normal, and restore the original timeline... just... try not to lose focus of that... for the sakes of your sanities, more than anything"

Ash and Angie exchanged dire looks.

And the Beyonder just clapped his hands and cheerily said "Okay, times up!"

"WHAT?!" The two teens shrieked.

"But wait, we're not-"

"Too bad, we're starting now!" The Beyonder said, preparing to clap his hands once more... but then abruptly stopped at the last second, blinking uncertainly for a moment before his face lit up in recognition "Oh, right... there's one last condition! Nothing too important, you just need to battle the leader of Team Rocket and overthrown that villainous Team as well. Before the Indigo League, that is!"

"..." Ash gaped at the Beyonder "... What?"

The Beyonder clapped.

There was a large flash of purple light, and when it subsided, Ash once again found himself falling.

Except this time, it wasn't through darkness, but a void of endless white... if it weren't for the sensation of falling and the lack of golden pillars about, Ash would have hardly noticed he wasn't even in the hall of Origin anymore.

The black haired trainer crossed his arms, frowning irritably, while still firmly holding onto the two items in his hands.

"Well, crud..." Ash whined.

A blue streak of light suddenly sped by in front of Ash, causing him to recoil slightly and blink in surprise. Several golden rings suddenly appeared along the blue trail left behind by whatever had blitzed past, which Ash narrowed his eyes at suspiciously and reached out to grab hold of one. The rings, and the blue light, vanished before his hand could reach however.

Ash scratched his cheek. A sudden flash of colour in the corner of his right eye caused him to turn his head to see some kind of glowing orange sun symbol. A glass square appeared around the sun symbol, then some kind of blue shape started forming around the screen. Once fully formed, the strange blue object appeared to be some kind of digital device. The sun symbol flashed brighter on its screen, and the device turned Orange.

Once again, Ash reached out to grab the mysterious object. And once again, it vanished before he could touch it.

The next image, appearing to Ash's left this time, was something completely different to the last two. It looked like a hologram of a living creature: An anthropomorphic, white duck, dressed in some kind fancy blue coat, a black top hat and glasses.

Ash did not reach out to touch the duck. He just started in bemusement at him.

When the well dressed duck faded away, five golden coins popped into existence around Ash. On close inspection, each coin had the image of some kind of strange creature Ash didn't recognize engraved into them. At least two of them however did suspiciously call to mind certain Pokemon revived from fossils Ash had seen, though.

The next image to pop up however was something truly frightening. An enormous, towering outline of a reptilian figure, which emitted an audible, deafening roar.

"SCREEEEEOOOOONNNNK!"

Ash screamed in terror and leaned back, causing his body to flip around several times. The shadowy figure took a bit longer to fade, and the horrible noise it produced took even longer to ease off. It was something of a miracle Ash managed to hold onto the crystal and piece of paper in his hands, wich how horrified he was in that instant.

Ash panted heavily several times out of shock, but any respite he had was cut short as this time, hundreds of images started popping into existence before him. So many that they seemed to fill every patch of the white voide surrounding Ash, and they appeared so rapidly Ash couldn't properly register what any of the images were, and the wash of colour all quickly grew disorientating to the point he was forced to shut his eyes to keep his head from spinning too much.

Then another strange thing happened.

A curious buzzing sound filled Ash's ears, kind of reminding him of radio static... it faded, and hundreds of distant, unfamiliar voices rang out in Ash's mind. He couldn't make them all out much better than he could the rush of images... but a few choice quotes echoed above the rest quite clearly.

"Chaos control!"

"Courage! Friendship! Love! Sincerity! Knowledge! Reliability! Hope! Light!"

"It's Morphin Time!"

"It is the arrogance of man, to think that nature is in our control... and not the other way around!"

"My number one dime!"

"We're the Freedom Fighters!"

"Digi Armour energize!"

"Make my monster grow!"

"The devil has three heads!"

"Ah, phooey!"

"The server's are the seven chaos!

"I'm his tamer!"

"May the power protect you!"

"MOSURA! MOSURA!"

"I am the terror, that flaps in the night!"

Suddenly, the voices in Ash's head abruptly ceased, and a moment later Ash curiously peaked open his eyes. Most of the area around him was clear white again, save for a single image, floating right in front of his face.

A piece of paper... with a single blot of ink at the center.

Ash blinked at the dot on the paper, which seemed to move slightly. He furrowed his brow... and suddenly, the ink spot began to grow rapidly, quickly outgrowing the piece of paper it was splattered on.

Ash gasped, gaping in horror as the black smudge grew to enormous proportions, then shot out and began to engulf him.

Ash screamed out in terror...

... And once again, all he knew was darkness.

* * *

_***Pallet** **Town,** **Ketchum** **residence.** **April** **1st,** **1pm...** **Year** **2997***_

"OOF!"

Ash landed face down on solid ground. Groaning, Ash shook off the sudden, but somehow not fatal, impact. Dropping the two items in his hands onto the floor, Ash pushed himself up and, though it took him a while to steady himself, he eventually managed to stand up.

Tepidly, his eyes began flickering open.

He was still surrounded by darkness... but not the complete, overwhelming kind that had surrounded him twice before. Rather, this was the normal kind of darkness one experienced when waking up in their room at night, where it was hard to see anything clearly but several shapes around the room were pretty easy to make out even at a glance.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ash rubbed his eyes and then began to squint. He felt a very familiar, kind of comforting sense of nostalgia from his surroundings.

Moving on instinct, Ash easily avoided a large snorlax shaped beanbag and several other items lining the floor, and made his way to the nearest light switch.

One flash of light later, and after recoiling slightly from having to quickly adjust to said brightness again, Ash saw that he was indeed right back in his bedroom in Pallet Town, just the way it was on the night before he left for his Pokemon journey.

Same posters on the walls. Same old tv. Same poliwag pencil sharpener. Even the same pokeball clock... though Ash couldn't be... too sure about that one. He had a million of those clocks... and a habit of breaking them dating back to his kindergarten days.

Ash took a deep breath, and exhaled sharply, scratching his head and feeling so unbelievably happy to just be in an environment where he could get a moments peace after all the nonsense he had just endured...

... though the sight of his now empty bed he'd seemingly fallen out of by the looks of the blankets, where there was no sign of his beloved yellow best friend, did leave Ash feeling anying BUT peaceful for a long moment.

'It's fine... It's fine... I'll see him tomorrow' Ash desperately told himself, putting a hand to his forehead and nursing a sudden migrane 'It's going to be fine... really...'

After giving himself a few minutes to settle his thoughts, Ash gingerly took a few steps forward... then stopped abruptly, coming to a sudden realization as he looked downwards...

... The ground... seemed a bit further away than it normally did.

Ash's jaw dropped, and he quickly rushed to the nearest mirror, looking himself up and down.

As a teenager in the old timeline, Ash had always been oddly short for his age... some often joked that he hadn't actually aged a day since he left Pallet Town. It wasn't exclusive to him, Brock and Misty and a few other people had weirdly stunted growth aswell, Brock even still resembling a teenager despite being in his early twenties now last Ash checked.

The Ash in the mirror though... actually could pass for sixteen.

It was actually kind of an unnerving sight to the black haired trainer. Apart from the fact he was taller and a bit more broad shouldered, a quick glance at his reflection's chin made it clear that new timeline Ash even had... shock of all shocks... facial hair!

'This... is going to take some getting used to' Ash thought to himself, scratching the admittedly very few strands of hair that still made him narrow his eyes in disbelief at his mirror self's chin '... Is this what that guy meant by some changes being random?'

It actually took a while for Ash to register that he was now wearing his favourite green pyjamas instead of the standard outfit he had been wearing since right before he started working for Professor Cerise. Compared to the first tiny step to him actually having a beard, that just wasn't very eye catching to Ash

It took less time though for Ash to spot the calendar on the wall above his mirror that, come to think about it, Ash couldn't actually remember if it was there before. But he wasn't too worried about that particular detail, being much more interested in just confirming the date.

The current page of the Calendar was set for March, with red crosses drawn through all the squares for the days. Evidently past alternate universe Ash hadn't bothered to flip the page to April.

It still showed the same year, either way... and wouldn't you know it, 2997, indeed the same year where Ash originally set out on his Pokemon journey.

Ash groaned deeply, a sudden wave of exhaustion washing over his now appropriately (for some weird reason, considering the date) teenaged body.

Ash wearily made his way to his old bed, plopping down backwards against the soft mattress and staring distantly at the ceiling, desperately trying to make himself comfortable.

For what felt like an even longer period than the entire day he had just had, Ash's mind raced to make sense of everything that had happened during his brief trip to the Hall of Origin. Every single word spoken seemed to replay in his mind... and with each word, his head just seemed to thump harder and harder.

 _'Well..._ _I_ _guess_ _I_ _have to save the world, again'_ Was the first truly clear thought Ash had after a while that wasn't a recollection of that conversation with the Beyonder and Arceus.

And with it, Ash furrowed his brow, shot to his feet, glanced at the black 20 mark on the back of his right hand, and looked serious.

After scooping up the white crystal and paper with Angie's phone number on it off of the floor and placing it on top of a small desk near his bed, Ash moved over to a nearby drawer and pulled out a notebook, grabbing a pencil out of the Poliwag sharpener and tapping it against his mouth, thinking long and hard about all the fine people he knew, and which of them would be most helpful in getting him through his currentt dilehmma.

Oh yes, Ash was going to have a long night ahead of him.

* * *

_***Solaceon** **Town,** **March** **31st.** **10pm***_

Angie gaped at herself in her own bedroom mirror, bewildered at how she now actually looked like a sixteen year old, right down to having a few more noticeably feminine features in her body proportions.

She was still pretty androdgenous, of course... but unless she wore baggy clothes, Angie doubted that even Ash wouldn't have been able to recognize her as a girl at first glance this time around.

Angie glanced briefly at the Shinx curled up on her bed and snoring loudly, then turned back to the mirror to look her perturbed reflected self right in the eyes.

 _'... What the hell did_ _I_ _just sign up to...'_


	2. New World, Same old friends

*Ring! Ring! Ring!*

Smash!

"Gah!" Ash leapt up so suddenly he ended up falling out of bed, face-planting on the floor just a foot away from his oversized soft Snorlax plush. With a pained groan Ash pushed himself up, glancing in the direction of the shattered pokeball-clock.

Panic quickly overtook him.

"Ah crud, not again!" Ash yelled, hastily looking up at the wall clock above his TV "Wait… seven O'Clock?"

Ash blinked a few times before letting out a huge sigh of relief "Well, okay then" He laughed, scratching the back of his head impishly.

In the original timeline, Ash had somehow managed to sleep through his alarm, only finally waking up after smashing his alarm clock after subconsciously throwing it in his sleep. Ash arrived at Professor Oak's lab pretty late as a result, after all the other three new trainers leaving Pallet Town that day had already gotten their starter Pokemon and took off on their journeys. Well except Gary, he stuck around just long enough to be really smug to Ash about the whole thing and how he got the best Pokemon.

By some stroke of luck, Ash had managed to avoid a repeat of that embarrassing incident this time around.

And yet, his clock still wound up against the wall.

 _'I guess some things are just fate'_ Ash mused to himself, observing the broken scrap metal littering the other side of his room.

Wasting no time, Ash pushed himself up onto his feet, stumbling slightly as it suddenly occurred to him he was still very tired. He vaguely remembered the now shattered alarm clock reading 3.45am and realised he'd probably stayed up most of the night planning out his next few moves after he left for Oak's Lab.

What those plans were completely alluded Ash at the moment, but he figured they'd probably come back to him when he was a bit more awake.

After scooping up the scattered remains of the pokeball clock and dumping them into a nearby bin, Ash stumbled over to his wardrobe and pulled open the doors, being greeted by a mirror on the back of one of them. The dishevelled teenager narrowed his eyes at the short tuft of hair on his reflection's chin.

Glancing once more at the wall behind the desk with his TV, Ash double checked the date on the calendar. Still the same date on which he'd first set out on his Journey.

Ash sighed _'Guess there's no point hoping it was all just a weird dream, huh?'_ Ash stroked the hairs on his chin, frowning curiously _'Am I supposed to start shaving then, or are you supposed to wait until it gets longer and it starts growing under your nose too?'_

A loud rumble suddenly filled his ears and made Ash clutch his stomach in discomfort. Shaking his head, Ash grabbed a pair of clothes-the same kind he'd worn for most of his travels in Kanto through Johto-and made his way out of the room and to the bathroom _'I'll worry about that later. Right now I'm staaaarviiiing'_

After a quick shower and feeling more awake, Ash got dressed and made his way to the stairs.

"Mime-Mime" a familiar voice greeted.

"Oh, hey Mimey" Ash responded as he passed his mother's Mr Mime on the landing before making for the stairs. About halfway down he suddenly stopped, his face going blank as Ash stood silently for a moment. Then with a sharp "Gah!" Ash leapt up, losing his footing on the step as he landed and tumbling the rest of the way down the stairs, his head becoming acquainted with an umbrella stand as he landed.

"Oww" Ash groaned, rubbing the fresh bruise on his forehead.

"Mr Mime?"

Ash glanced up the stairs and saw Mr Mime looking down at him with concern. As Ash began to get up, Mimey rushed down the stairs and offered him a hand, which Ash graciously accepted.

"Thanks" Ash said, momentarily forgetting the reason why he'd just tumbled down the stairs. It quickly came back to him after standing up "Wait-Mr Mime?! What are you doing here?"

Ash's first thought was to wonder why Mimey would be at his house instead of the Cerise Laboratory where he'd been staying with Ash. Then he remembered that he was sent back in time, so why would Mimey be at the Lab now instead of at home with his mother. And then Ash realised-hey, wait. He and his mother hadn't met Mimey until after he'd won all 8 of his Kanto badges, so what was he doing here at all?

"Mr Mime?" Mimey looked equally as confused as Ash did right now. He placed a hand over the bruise on Ash's head, leaned in close and began examining Ash's face with some concern. Ash just stared back at him awkwardly before eventually swatting the hand away and leaning away from the Psychic-type.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Ash chuckled nervously, which just made Mimey look at him oddly. Ash scratched his head "I just-um… I was a bit dizzy, that's all. I, uh… didn't get much sleep-but I'm fine! Everything's good, Mimey, thanks. Ha ha"

Mimey eyed Ash suspiciously for a long moment, which made the teen a bit nervous. But eventually the mime's face lit up with a satisfied smile.

"Mime-mime" Mimey said while giving Ash a thumbs up. Ash mentally sighed and waved at the Mr Mime as he began climbing back up the stairs, picking up a stack of freshly-folded towels when he got to the top.

 _'Okay, so mom and I already have Mimey in this timeline'_ Ash thought to himself, scratching his chin _'Well, I guess that's not the most surprising thing that could happen. But now I wonder if mom's a blonde or something now?'_

A quick trip to the kitchen proved that wasn't the case. At most his mother's hair was just slightly longer than it had been the last he'd seen of her.

"Oh, hey honey, glad you got up on time. What was that big thump just now?" Delia asked while washing the dishes.

"Thump?" Ash frowned "… Oh. Um, I fell down the stairs"

Delia put down the plate she was washing and looked at Ash with some concern, noticing the bruise on his head.

"Oh my gosh, Ash! Are you alright?" Delia squealed, rushing over to her son who quickly threw up his hands in a 'Stop' motion.

"It's fine mom, I'm alright" Ash insisted "You know me, I've been hurt way worse than this"

Delia stared at Ash contemplatively for a long moment before her expression relaxed and she sighed.

"Yeah, that's true" She said with some amusement "Honestly, I'd hoped you'd be over that clumsy streak by the time you set off on a journey, but I guess that's just who you are. Oh, by the way, breakfast is on the table for you sweetie"

With a relieved sigh Ash took his seat at the table and examined the contents of the plate his mother had laid out. Toast, bacon, fried eggs, and a croquette sandwich. Simple breakfast, but Ash was happy to dig in.

As he made a start on the toast, Ash looked over at his mother, watching her finish washing the remaining dishes. After the shock of everything he'd been through the previous evening and being told the entire universe had been torn apart, it was a welcome relief to see his mother again, just carrying on with her life as normal.

 _'Now how the heck am I supposed to explain all of that to her?'_ Ash asked himself, scratching his head. He then noticed the black mark on the back of his hand that read "20" and Arceus's advice on how to "Remind" people repeated in his head.

Ash noticed his mother turn her head to look at him again, and he quickly hid his right hand under the table. He silently cursed himself for not putting on his old gloves with the rest of his clothes, he'd better make sure neither she or Mimey noticed the mark just yet.

"Those are some pretty big bags under your eyes. I did tell you you'd regret it if you didn't get enough sleep" Delia lectured. Ash scratched the bottom of his nose with his left index finger.

"Hehe. I tried, but you know, I just had so much on my mind I couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried" Ash replied. It was the truth of course, but just not for the reasons Delia assumed.

"Oh, Ash… well, I guess I can't blame you. This IS a pretty exciting day for any young man. Just promise me you'll try and sleep better the next couple of days. You may be 16 now, but you're still a growing boy" Delia said, finishing up with the dishes and going to make herself a cup of tea.

"I'll… try. I promise" Ash replied. Delia shot him a warm smile at that, and Ash suddenly felt the most at ease he'd been since before the world ended. His mother could be strict, embarrassing and overbearing from time to time. But she was still a wonderful, loving person with a big heart, and she always knew how to cheer him up.

He was so grateful she wasn't lost forever.

As Ash finished his toast and started on the bacon and eggs, a loud yawn caught his attention. He turned to the door that led to the living room to see a little brown-haired girl in blue pyjamas and a bow in her hair wander into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and looking very sleepy. Ash could only blink at her, thinking she looked very familiar.

"Molly, dear, what's got you up so early" Asked Delia with mild concern.

Ash blinked harder. Molly? Taking a closer look at the girl as her eyes drifted open, it suddenly clicked why he recognised her. She was Molly Hale, the daughter of a family friend that he'd met in Johto once on his journeys.

"I wa-" Molly yawned again, shaking her head and suddenly looking a little more awake "I wanted to be awake to see Ash before he left"

"He doesn't have to be at Oak's lab until ten, sweetie. You didn't have to get up straight away" Delia said, setting aside her unfinished cup of tea and pulling out a chair for Molly to sit on. The little one smiled and bowed graciously to her before she sat.

 _'Ten?'_ Ash pondered. He could have sworn he had to be at Oak's lab a lot sooner than that originally? Or had he really overslept that badly? Why hadn't his mother woken him up, then?

"But I won't get to see Ash for a really, really long time after today. So I wanted to make sure" Molly insisted. Delia giggled and ruffled Molly's hair.

"Aww, sweetie" Delia cooed.

Ash was just really confused by all this.

Molly noticed Ash staring at her and flashed him a sweet smile "Good morning Ash. Ready to be a Pokemon Master?"

"I… sure, I always am" Ash replied, glancing sideways at his mother "What's Molly doing here?"

Ash mentally winced slightly at the look of shock and concern on Molly's face when he said that. Delia looked at her son like he'd asked why water was wet "She's been here a whole week! Her dad's on a research trip with Professor Rowan, remember?"

"Professor Row-" Ash began, but then suddenly it hit him how what he'd just said was probably pretty dumb from his mother's perspective and changed direction "Oh-oh, right, research trip. I um, forgot? Ha ha"

Now Delia and Molly were both looking at him with a bit of concern. Delia heaved a frustrated sigh.

"This is why I don't want you staying up all night, mister. Lack of sleep really messes with your head" Delia mused.

"Is Ash going to be alright?" Molly asked tenderly.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr sleepy head will be fine once he's woken up some more" Delia said with a laugh. Molly giggled, though still looking worried.

Ash continued staring at Molly for a moment. In the old timeline, Ash apparently knew Molly when she was a few years younger than when they'd met again in Johto, but could barely remember much about her or her family before they'd moved away.

Evidently they hadn't moved this time around, and Ash figured from the looks of things he and his mother were a lot closer to Molly because of it.

But there was another bit of information that really caught his interest. Apparently Molly's father was doing research with Professor Rowan? He was the Pokemon Professor in Sinnoh, who Ash had met a bunch of times. It was at his Summer Camp he'd first met Angie, in fact. And Ash also vaguely recalled an encounter with a certain type of Pokemon in Sinnoh on another occasion…

"Are they looking for the Unown?" Ash asked.

"I don't think Spencer's been researching anything else for the last 10 years" Delia chuckled. Ash suddenly felt a bit uneasy, remembering the circumstances in which he'd originally met with Molly in Johto. And then another thought suddenly popped into his mind.

"Is Molly's mom with them?"

Ash regretted the question as soon as he blurted it out, and the looks on Delia and Molly's faces when he said it only reinforced that. Delia gaped at him in disbelief, then swiftly turned to face Molly, who was suddenly staring silently at her feet.

Ash gulped.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I… don't know why I asked that" Was all Ash could say. Delia shot him another disapproving look before kneeling down and putting a hand on Molly's shoulder, whispering something soothing into her ear. Ash looked away in shame.

He suddenly remembered quite clearly that Molly's mother in the original timeline had disappeared quite some time before he got to Johto, apparently it had something to do with the Unown kidnapping her in a similar manner they later did Molly's father. Or, he assumed that's what happened, since apparently she'd been found shortly after Spencer Hale was returned after the whole Unown crisis at Greenfield was taken care of.

Losing her mother had filled Molly with a lot of grief and left her feeling very lonely in the old timeline. And clearly, the same held true for this one.

Not wanting to stick around in case he said anything else stupid, Ash hurriedly finished the rest of his bacon and eggs and scooped up the Croquette sandwich to take with him to his room.

"I, um... I think I need to take a quick nap. I'm not thinking straight" Ash said hastily "Could-could you wake me if I'm not up in time to get to the lab, mom?"

"Sure, honey. Sure" Delia said, still looking rather cross with him. Molly glanced up at Ash, but quickly looked away. Ash felt like his insides had briefly frozen seeing the hurt look on her face, and he wasted no time getting out of the kitchen, bumping into Mimey on his way out who had just entered the room and was watching everyone else with some confusion.

Ash rushed up the stairs, scarfing down his sandwich as he did so. Pushing open the door to his room, Ash shut the door behind him, made straight for his bed and plopped down on it, heaving an aggravated sigh.

"Well, that was awkward" Ash grumbled to himself. He flipped over onto his back and stared contemplatively at the ceiling. He knew he was going to have to apologize to Molly for that little slip-up, but he wasn't quite sure what to say.

_'Sorry I brought up your missing mom when you're still torn up about it. Don't worry, she's just trapped in another dimension by floating alphabet soup, and she'll totally come back once you dream up an Entei to blast them back to their dimension and make the world stop turning into crystal'_

...

 _'Yeah, no, definitely not'_ Ash slapped his forehead and closed his eyes, thinking carefully about how to sound comforting without giving too much away…

...

...

...

_He and Molly were decorating a Christmas tree together. Ash was standing on a chair and holding Molly up, as the younger girl struggled to reach out and place a plastic Clefable on top of the tree. Molly and Ash both cheered when she finally got the Clefable to stick._

...

Ash's eyes shot open as he bolted upright. For a moment he had no reaction other than to stare blankly into the distance. Then his senses eventually returned to him and a bemused frown spread across his face.

"What the… what was-GAH!" Ash's eyes snapped shut again as his mind suddenly went fuzzy.

...

_It was Molly's fourth birthday party. Ash, his mother, Professor Oak and both of Molly's parents were there. Molly was struggling to blow out the candles on a cake shaped like a Teddiursa's head, so when her eyes were shut during her 5th attempt Ash blew them out for her and pretended she had done it herself. Everyone cheered for Molly, who was laughing and looking very proud of herself._

_Molly was four and a half. She and Ash were at the park. Molly had just fallen off the swings and scraped her knee. She cried for five minutes straight while Ash bandaged her leg and told her over and over in a gentle voice that everything would be okay, that she was a big girl and didn't need to cry. When he was done putting on the bandage Ash gave Molly a hug, which finally calmed her down enough to make the crying stop. Ash picked Molly up and took her to find her father. Molly thanked Ash. She said he was the bestest._

_Molly was two years old. Mr Mime was making her laugh by floating spoons, forks and plates around and doing a weird tap dance. Ash thought it was kinda silly, but Molly was loving it. Ash then decided to impress her by juggling apples. He was doing pretty well with three, but when he tried juggling five he hit Mimey with one by mistake and made him drop the plates and cutlery he was floating. The plates smashed against the floor. Surprisingly, this made Molly laugh harder than anything else Ash or Mimey had done, but Ash wasn't sharing her amusement. He was panicking over how much his mother would yell at him over the smashed plates._

_Molly was crying her eyes out. A few hours ago, Spencer had come home a nervous wreck and informed Delia and Ash that Molly's mother had gone missing. Molly was five years old._ _Ash was now cradling the distraught little girl in his arms, gently telling her everything would be okay and that they'd find her mom before long. He wasn't sure himself, he didn't understand what had happened very well either, but he had to try to ease her pain somehow. Molly hugged him tight, begging her momma to come back._

_It was three weeks ago. Spencer was talking to Delia in her living room. Ash was looking at Molly, who was sulking in the corner of the room. Spencer was telling Delia about how he was going to be moving to Greenfield, his childhood home where his now deceased parents used to live. He and Molly would go there a few weeks after a trip to Sinnoh he had to go on with Professor Rowan to study some ruins in Solaceon Town. Ash noticed Molly was shaking, and suddenly she shot up and yelled at her father that she didn't want to leave and that she hated him for taking her away from home._

_A few minutes later, Molly had locked herself in the wardrobe in Ash's room. Delia and Spencer were waiting outside of Ash's room as Ash tried to calm Molly down. It took half an hour, but Ash eventually managed to get her to come out. She cried when she saw her father and apologised for saying she hated him, saying she didn't mean it and she just wanted to stay home and be with everyone. Ash sighed as he watched Spencer hugging his daughter, apologising for needing to move and promising they'd come back eventually._

...

In the present, Ash gasped for breath. His eyes flickered open and he began looking around the room, getting a grip on his current surroundings. He leaned back against his pillow, his mind racing to process that sudden burst of information. Something Arceus had said the previous evening repeated clearly in his head.

"There's another thing you should know. The longer the two of you remain in this new timeline and your bodies and minds begin to acclimate to it, the more you should experience memories of the lives you should have lead in this new reality. Flashbacks, most likely, though a few of them might be subconscious recollections you won't even notice were not related to your past lives"

It all made sense now. Those were his new memories. He was recalling some of the times he and Molly had spent together in this new version of his life. How Ash had known her since she was a baby. How the Hale's were close family friends who hadn't yet moved away.

How Molly had been like a sister to Ash.

Ash rubbed his head, his eyes glazed over as he became lost in those thoughts. Consciously, he knew he had never really experienced any of those moments… and yet, for reasons he couldn't understand… he FELT like he'd lived them. Those memories FELT as real and personal to him as any from the life he actually had lived up to now.

Ash wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not. All he really knew right now was that he felt even more guilty for making Molly upset.

He glanced at the clock. 8.15am. What? How long had he been staring at the ceiling?

Slapping his head, Ash got up and opened the window, breathing in the breeze of fresh air and leaning against the windowsill. He looked out at the town of Pallet.

Everything seemed exactly the way he remembered it. Same buildings. Same sky. Same Professor Oak's ranch in the distance. He even noticed the Dodrio that usually woke everyone in the neighbourhood up waddling around. The place outside Ash's window seemed just like the same old world he'd grown up in.

But it wasn't. It was so very different.

_'Boy, I'll be glad when this is all over and things go back to normal'_

Taking another deep breath, Ash cast another glance out at Professor Oak's lab in the distance. Pikachu was in that building right now, waiting for Ash to pick him and start their journey together. Ash's lip quivered. He wanted to smile, but he was feeling uneasy at the prospect. So much else seemed different about this new world already: Would Pikachu even be the same Pokemon he remembered anymore?

That particular worry vanished when he glanced down at the mark on the back of his hand. He let out a quick sigh of relief. Maybe Pikachu would be a little different… but Ash could make it so he still remembered all the good times they'd had together in their old life.

They'd still be the best of friends. That much couldn't change.

Closing his window, Ash walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out the pair of gloves he'd forgotten to bring to the bathroom with him earlier. Checking his bag to make sure he really did have all the supplies he needed, he also pulled out the piece of paper with Angie's phone number and the jewel Arceus had given him.

Ash stared at the white gem. Supposedly it would glow when the time came for Arceus to contact him for an update on how he was getting along. Ash really wished it would glow now, he had so many questions he wanted to ask about this new life, and he was suddenly feeling a hundred times more resentful to the Beyonder than he already was for plunging him into this mess.

Shaking that thought from his head, Ash put the jewel and the paper with Angie's number back in his bag. He would have to call her once he got to Viridian. Hopefully she was adjusting to this whole situation better than he was so far.

Or rather, would be. With the time Zone she was probably asleep right now.

An hour passed as Ash sat on his bed, replaying the events that had happened in the Hall of Origins and everything that had been said in his head. When the clock reached 9.30, Ash got up, took a deep breath and clenched his fist with a fiery resolve. He picked up his backpack and flung it over his shoulders, then grabbed the cap sitting on the table next to his TV, putting it on as he left the room.

And then he saw that Molly was standing by the door, looking down at the ground and dressed in the same clothes Ash had seen her wear in their previous life. Ash blinked at the little girl as she looked up at him with an unreadable expression. A moment of silence passed before a sad frown suddenly spread across Molly's face as she turned away from Ash.

"Do you… would you be happier if I wasn't around, Ash?"

Ash's eyebrows rose. Where had that come from?

"What? Why would you think that, Molly?" Ash asked with genuine concern. Molly shuffled her feet, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger.

"Some… some girls in the park…" Molly's voice was shaky, and Ash thought she was trying not to cry "I mean… um… I was just wondering… you're going away for a really long time. On your journey. And… I was just wondering… I'll see you again, right?"

A sad smile appeared on Ash's face as he suddenly realised what Molly must be feeling. Her mother had disappeared just barely a year ago. She and her father were going to be moving away for a while… and Ash was setting out on a journey, so there was no guarantee he'd be here when or if she eventually moved back.

Acting on newfound instincts, Ash kneeled down and put a hand on Molly's shoulder, smiling softly at the girl as she turned to face him.

"I'm not going to disappear Molly. And I promise I'll keep in touch and come visit you when I can. You'll see me again" Ash said. Molly's eyes began to water. Ash ruffled her hair and smiled wider "After all… you're my little sister"

Inwardly Ash couldn't believe those words were leaving his lips. But what surprised him even more was how, deep down… he felt like he really meant it.

Molly let out a sob and turned away from Ash again. Ash gave her a moment to compose herself, and when she'd finally stopped sobbing he asked "Why would you think I wouldn't want you around?"

A moment of silence.

"The other day" Molly began, visibly nervous "I was playing in the park. Some older girls were talking with each other. The oldest one was complaining about her mom… said she was really bossy to her. I said… I said she shouldn't say mean things, and her mom was just trying to help her learn and be nicer to people. And then…"

Molly gripped the sides of her skirt, looking like she wanted to cry again. Ash put his hand back on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, and after taking a deep breath Molly continued.

"She said… she said… she said the reason Momma went away… was because I-" Tears were most certainly welling up in Molly's eyes now, and Ash was bracing himself for what she was about to say "Because I was annoying and no one would want to have me as their daughter"

Ash's eyes widened as Molly let out an anguished wail and began crying for real this time. At first he felt too awkward to respond, but after getting a grip on himself he gave Molly a tender hug and let her cry into his shoulder.

Ash recalled his initial reaction to seeing Molly in the kitchen, and how hurt Molly had seemed when he asked why she was around. And it really hit him that she must have thought that maybe that cruel girl had been right. Maybe she was annoying. Maybe Ash didn't want her around, maybe he would be glad to be away from her. And then, what would that say about her mother and why she went away?

A fresh pan of guilt swept over Ash, and he hugged Molly harder.

What felt like a whole minute passed as Molly poured her heart out. When her sobs began to quiet down, Ash pulled Molly forward to look at her face to face again and gave her a firm look.

"Your mother loved you, Molly. I know that for sure, she didn't run away and leave you. I don't care what some jerk told you, you're not annoying. Don't ever let anyone make you think what happened was your fault, because it's not"

Molly sniffled "But-but then… why did she-"

"It isn't your fault! People just go missing sometimes, but we'll find her eventually. I guarantee you that" Ash said confidently. However different this timeline had to be, if the events behind Mrs Hale's disappearance were the same, then it was guaranteed she'd be found again just like last time. Right? "But more important than that, she loved you. And she would never choose to leave you. You're a good daughter, Molly"

More sniffles. Ash ruffled Molly hair again and gave her another smile.

"And just because I have to leave for a while, that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you forever either. Sometimes friends and family move away, or go different paths in life" Ash recalled the faces of many of his friends and Pokemon in quick succession as he said that "… But that doesn't mean we forget each other, or won't meet again. I promise you that"

More tears, and Molly wrapped Ash in another hug, though this time the tears faded pretty quickly.

"I'm sorry, Ash"

Ash looked down at Molly oddly "What for?" Molly pulled back a bit to talk to his face.

"For thinking you didn't care. I know you do. I just…" Molly hesitated "… I'm really going to miss seeing you all the time. I want everything to go back the way it was"

"I know the feeling" Ash said, thinking of the world the way it was before the Beyonder changed it. He frowned, knowing what he was about to say would probably be hypocritical coming from him, but Ash still felt it was what Molly needed to hear "… But that's just life. Change happens, and you just have to get used to it. Doesn't mean every change will be bad. You'll miss me for a while, but just try and think how happy you'll be when we see each other again. And how great you'll feel when your mom is found"

Molly looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled "That… that does sound nice"

"See, no need to be all doom and gloom" Ash chuckled. Molly wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and separated from Ash, looking a lot calmer now "So, feel better now?"

Molly nodded "Yeah… I'll be okay. You're a good brother, Ash"

Ash scratched his cheek, feeling pretty proud at that "Helps to have a great little sister"

Two hours ago, Ash barely knew Molly. She was just one of many friends that he only knew for a short time and then never saw again. But now, she felt like one of the most important people in his life. A part of Ash was really worried about that feeling. The world he was living in right now was a farce, something that had to be fixed and put back to the way it was. Surely it wasn't going to do him any good in the long run to start getting attached to this version of reality and the life he had here, right?

And yet… for the moment, seeing Molly's gracious smile and the sense of brotherly pride it inspired within him… Ash couldn't find it in him to worry too much about that just now.

"Ahem"

Ash and Molly turned to see Delia looking at them from the top of the stairs, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I really hate to interrupt this moment. But it's nine fourty five, Ash. You should probably be leaving soon if you want to get your first Pokemon" Said Delia. Ash suddenly turned frantic.

"I forgot!" Ash gasped. He turned to Molly quickly "Good talk, gotta go, I'll see you at the ranch later, bye!"

And with that Ash took off down the stairs, much to the bemusement of Delia.

"It only takes ten-" Delia was cut off by a loud thump. She sighed "Also, don't run down the stairs. Keep hitting your head like that, and you won't be in any condition to travel for another week"

"Right… sorry" Ash said, getting up and rubbing the fresh bruise on his forehead. His head was probably going to be purple all day if he kept falling like that.

A moment to let his senses come back later, Ash took off out the door, waving goodbye to Delia, Molly and Mimey who now stood in the frame to see him off as he ran down the path that would lead him to Oak's Laboratory.

"Is Ash going to be okay, miss Ketchum?" Asked Molly. Delia giggled and patted the girl on the head.

"Oh, don't worry. Our Ash can seem like a goof at times, but he's brave and resourceful and determined. He'll be fine"

"Mime, mime" Mimey chimed in agreement. Delia smiled, looking out at her son's shrinking figure in the distance. Her expression softened a little.

She had long prepared herself for this day, but she had to admit to herself she still was a bit worried for Ash's wellbeing. It was a big world out there, one that could be dangerous for inexperienced trainers. She was sure he could handle it, she'd raised him the best she could to be prepared for setting out on his own, but… well, she was a mother. Who could expect her to not have reservations?

Didn't help that she was also going to miss having him around the house almost as much as Molly would. She sighed "Although, I guess I should check to make sure he packed clean underwear before he leaves the ranch"

* * *

_**9:57am** _

Ash was actually a bit early arriving at Professor Oak's lab.

In the old timeline, Ash had shown up last out of all the starting trainers, and there was a huge crowd of people outside ready to see Gary, himself and presumably the other trainers off.

This time around, there was no crowd. Just an empty space in front of the steps up to the lab, which felt a bit off to Ash.

"Weird. I would have thought Gary would be here already, and knowing him at this point he's never one to do anything quietly" Ash hummed to himself, closing his eyes for a moment…

...

_Ash was helping Professor Oak feed a small pack of Growlithe in the field behind his ranch when the Professor suddenly piped up._

_"Oh, by the way Ash, Gary's feeling a tad sickly right now. He most likely won't be able to start his journey in two days with the rest of you new trainers, so he asked if I could reserve Squirtle for him. He'd already picked it out as his preferred starter, you see"_

_"Aw man, I wanted Squirtle" Ash whined in frustration. It quickly passed "Oh well, Bulbasaur and Charmander are great too… still, leave it to Gary to call dibs on the Pokemon I was gonna pick"_

_Oak chuckled "He always does seem one step ahead of you, doesn't he?"_

...

Ash's eyes shot open again. He shook his head.

_'More flashbacks?'_

Ash mulled that information over. Gary was sick, then? Kind of a random change. For a moment Ash worried for his safety, but the Professor didn't seem too worried in the flashback so it was probably nothing serious.

It would probably mean Ash would have to restore Gary's memories of the old timeline some other time, though. He didn't really want to have to explain the whole world reset situation to both Professor Oak and Gary separately, it'd take too long and he'd rather spend the time finding Misty and getting to Viridian City quickly to call Angie and see how she was doing.

Wouldn't be a big problem, Ash supposed. Gary was a good trainer and would be doing the Gym Challenge too. No doubt he'd run into him sooner or later, surely there was no harm in waiting to restore his memories?

Also, Ash really didn't want to risk catching anything off Gary if whatever he had come down with was contagious. That would really set him back.

After climbing the steps, Ash made to knock on the front door to the lab, but missed as the door opened on its own. A green haired girl with a ponytail prepared to run out, but stopped herself just a split second before she would have run head-first into Ash. She leaned back in surprise and somehow managed to fall over, landing with a loud thud.

Ash blinked at her.

"Um… are you ok?" Ash asked carefully. The girl sat up quickly and began shaking her hands and stuttering.

"I'm fi-fi-fine! Sorry!" The girl stammered. A Bulbasaur suddenly hopped up onto her lap and looked up at her face with concern.

"Bulba?"

"It's-it's okay, Bulby. I'm good. Good. Just, uh… oh, you're A-Ash, right?" The girl stammered. Ash looked at her uncertainly.

"Um… yes" He dryly responded.

The girl stood up, wiped her clothes like she was trying to dispel dust (Even though there was none on her), then scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly.

"Ha ha… sorry you had to see that. I'm, uh, a bit, uh… I'm kind of an idiot" She sighed.

Ash shrugged.

"Me too, nothing to worry about" Ash said. The green haired girl laughed nervously at that, and Ash looked at her contemplatively. He'd never interacted much with either of the two other trainers who left Pallet Town on the same day as Gary, he certainly didn't meet them during his travels where they apparently quit training before the Indigo League according to Professor Oak.

But from what he remembered of those two trainers… neither one of them was a girl with green hair.

"Um… is there something on my face?" The ponytail girl asked. Ash shook his head and smiled unconvincingly.

"Uh, no, I was just… what was your name again?" Ash asked. She smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, um… it's Amagi" She replied, poking her fingers together "… Uh, don't worry if you didn't remember me. Nobody usually notices me"

Not entirely accurate, because now Ash remembered that one of the two trainers actually had been a girl named Amagi. Though Ash thought she might have had brown hair previously rather than green.

Another odd change. Ash wondered if he was going to see a lot of minor cosmetic differences in this universe.

"I think I do, actually. Though I don't know you very well" Ash said. Amagi lit up.

"Oh, well, um… that's neat, teehee" Amagi giggled, shuffling her feet nervously. Ash stared down at the Bulbasaur now pawing at Amagi's legs for attention, leading her to bend down and pet its head.

"Um… was I actually late? I thought we were supposed to be here by about ten?"

"Oh, no! I uh, I came early. I really wanted a bulbasaur, so I didn't want to chance anyone else getting it" Amagi replied. Then suddenly she looked very guilty and started waving her hands frantically "Uh, s-sorry if YOU wanted a Bulbasaur too, maybe that was just inconsiderate!"

Ash motioned for her to calm down "Uh, don't worry. I had a different Pokemon in mind" Amagi let out an enormous sigh of relief at that.

"Good, good" She said. She stepped past Ash and waved at him "Well, uh… I'm sure you want to get your Pokemon too, don't let me keep you waiting. Bye!"

And then she took off down the steps. Looking after her, Ash suddenly remembered the last thing his mother said to him and felt compelled to call out "Hey, you know, you shouldn't run down-"

"WAAAGH!"

"… Too late" Ash said, watching the girl bounce down the stairway and land face first in the mud. Her Bulbasaur, still at the top of the steps, squeaked in concern and rushed down to check on her. When it reached her, Amagi shot to her feet again, looked back up at Ash and waved.

"Don't worry, I'm fine… only one tooth fell out!" She called. Ash could only sweat-drop as he watched her suddenly run back into town, probably to show her friends and family the Bulbasaur that chased after her.

"She's a very… unique young woman, isn't she?"

Ash nodded in agreement. A moment later he registered who was talking and jumped slightly, turning around to face Professor Oak.

"Good morning Ash. Managed to wake up on time for a change I see… though I must say, maybe it would have done you good to sleep in. Those bags under your eyes look very dark" The professor commented.

Ash tapped the space under his left eye, he'd completely forgotten that he was so tired when he got out of bed earlier, he felt fit as a Skitty now.

"I'm fine, Professor" Ash said, looking his old mentor in the face. Like Ash, the man looked noticeably older in this timeline, though not as drastically. He had a few more wrinkles here and there, and his hair seemed a bit of a lighter shade of gray, almost white on the edges. But other than that, he still looked just like the Professor Oak Ash knew and looked up to.

"Well, that's good news. Care to follow me inside?" Oak asked. Ash nodded, humming to himself thoughtfully as he followed that advice.

 _'I guess it's time to find out if this whole "Reminding" thing really works'_ Ash thought to himself, pulling off the glove on his right hand and looking at the 20 mark on the back of said hand.

When Ash and the Professor were a few steps into the living room portion of the building, Ash suddenly stopped and began to chuckle, getting Oak's attention

"Uh, say, hey Professor! I, um-" Ash stammered nervously, earning a quizzical look from the old man. Stopping for a moment and taking a quick breath, Ash continued "I was just wondering… this is a pretty big moment for me. It's not every day a man gets to meet his first Pokemon and start on his journey, you know. And I just want to say, I'm really grateful to you for giving me this opportunity, you know…"

Oak nodded, furrowing his brow curiously "You're very welcome, I'm happy to see you off. Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Yes, well, I was just wondering. Could I just shake your hand? To, thank you for being such a positive influence on my life and all" Ash said, extending his ungloved right hand. Oak stared at it uncertainly for a moment, and then let out a laugh.

"Was that all? You needn't sound so nervous about something that simple, my boy. Of course I'll shake your hand" Professor Oak said, eyes closed and with a smile. Ash had a satisfied grin on his face as Oak took his hand.

"Gee, thanks Professor… that's very helpful" Ash said, gripping the Professor's hand tighter and focusing his thoughts very firmly on a single word: 'Remember!'

For a moment Oak had been looking slightly confused at Ash's sudden tight grip, but then in an instant after that command rang in Ash's head the old man's eyes widened and his face turned blank.

For what felt like eons the Professor just stood there motionless, and Ash frantically worried for a second that he had done something wrong. Then suddenly, the professor took two steps back, closed his eyes and put a hand to his head, massaging his temples and groaning uncomfortably.

Ash continued to stare at the Professor with some concern. He then looked down at the back of his hand.

"19"

The marking had changed. Ash lowered his hand to his side and stared back at the Professor, who had opened his eyes again and was staring incredulously at Ash.

"What… what just happened?" Professor Oak asked in a hushed tone.

It had worked.

Sighing in relief, Ash motioned to the nearest sofa.

"We have a lot to talk about Professor. Long story short, the world's in trouble, and I'm gonna need your help" Ash said. Professor Oak stared uneasily back at him for a moment, still looking like he was processing what had just happened to him. Then eventually he hobbled over to the sofa and flopped down on it, taking a good three minutes to stare silently into space before finally turning to look at Ash again, who had taken a seat next to him.

"Start talking, then" He sternly instructed. Ash took a deep breath.

Now where to start?

* * *

It had taken Ash about 20 minutes to explain the full story of how the Beyonder had ended the world and put it back together again, and the mission Ash had been tasked with to restore it. Professor Oak had mostly watched Ash silently during the whole thing, occasionally chiming in a "Hmm" "Go on" and a couple of "WHAT?"'s but saying very little otherwise.

When Ash was finally done with his story, the Professor got up and made for his kitchen, poring himself a tall glass of water which he drank in one go. When he was done he placed the glass down on the counter by the sink, sighed and gave Ash a heavy look.

"So… basically, your story goes that some other dimensional God-like being calling himself "The Beyonder" came to our universe, decided it was his play thing and tore it into pieces and stapled it back together along with a bunch of other worlds… all so it could play a game with Arceus over who gets to be the ruling God of this reality, which involves you needing to win several leagues and bringing down all of the Regional villainous teams we know of, including Team Rocket? Also, a random friend of yours from Sinnoh named Angie is involved and you now have the power to restore a select amount of people's memories of the timeline we're all SUPPOSED to be living in, as well as possibly the ability to talk to your Pokemon, but you haven't had a chance to test that one out yet. Did I miss anything?"

"No, I think that sums up all the big important stuff" Ash said, scratching his head. Professor Oak just stared at Ash for a while before heaving a beleaguered sigh.

"If you'd told me any of this half an hour ago, I might have been inclined to call a medical unit and have you institutionalised. But considering just a little bit under half an hour ago, I had thousands of memories of a completely separate life from the one I was living up to that point suddenly storm into my head all at once, many of which seem to involve weird incidents with you and a lot of legendary Pokemon… I feel confident in nodding along and presuming everything you've told me is true" The professor explained. Ash chuckled nervously.

"Well, good thing the memory thing worked, or we'd lose that bet with the Beyonder pretty quickly, huh Professor?" Ash said with a laugh. Professor Oak didn't laugh back, he just started massaging his temples again with a pained expression spreading over his face. Ash winced "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'm fine. I just…" Oak grumbled, taking his time to continue "… This is so much to take in. Not just this Beyonder world-ending insanity, but just… 56 years of a completely different life from the 60 year one I'm living right now flooding into my brain… it's just… overwhelming"

Ash stared at the ground "Sorry, Professor… I just, you're one of the smartest people I know. I know I'm gonna need a lot of help to fix everything… not even just winning the league, but stopping Team Rocket and all the other bad guys again. You're smart and you know a lot of people and you're someone I know I could talk to about all this, and-"

The Professor put a hand up to silence Ash "You don't have to explain yourself, Ash. True, this experience has been disorientating and stressful and confusing… but I'm glad you let me in on all this. I'll gladly help you in any way I can. I'm not going to let our world become some madman's toy"

Ash smiled gratefully.

"So… what exactly do you need me to do?" The Professor asked.

"First, I need you to give me Pikachu again"

"He's in his Pokeball in the lab" Oak said with a nod.

"And then… well, here's a list of people I want to try and remind" Ash said, placing his backpack on the counter and pulling out said list. Professor Oak swiped it out of his hand and began looking it over carefully.

"Me, Gary, Lance-of the Elite Four?" Oak looked to Ash for confirmation. At Ash's nod he continued reading aloud "Steven Stone, Agent Looker, Cynthia, Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet… Lucario?"

"Oh, yeah, um… remember that story I told you about the time I went to Rota?" Ash asked. Professor Oak meditated on that for a moment before going "Ah"

"You mean the Lucario that died saving the tree of beginning?"

"Yeah. I… thought that might not need to happen if I made sure Pikachu didn't get taken by Mew this time, and I didn't want Lucario to die again… and, I thought he might be helpful if I could get him to work with us?" Ash explained. Professor Oak smiled for the first time since having his memory restored and nodded approvingly at Ash.

"I understand. That's very kind of you to consider, Ash" Oak said, earning a thankful smile from his student. He turned back to the list "Professor Cerise, Pokemon Ranger Jack Walker,N, Leon, Jessie, James, Meowth… and Santa Claus?!"

At the Professor's incredulous stare Ash shrugged and said "Well, I met him before… and he's SANTA, so there's got to be SOMETHING useful he can do to help us out if we let him in on all this, right?"

Professor Oak sighed in disbelief "It still baffles me you actually got to meet Santa Claus in either timeline, now you want to recruit him for some rag-tag band of champions to help you save the world?!"

"You think it's a bad idea?"

"Do it if you want, you might be onto something. It's just…" Oak hesitated "… Weird... Very weird... All of this is weird"

An awkward moment of silence passed as Professor Oak reread the list a few times and thought over all the names on it.

"I just chose a bunch of people who seemed like they could be helpful… or in Team Rocket's case, I just thought I kinda had to remind them since they'd just be following me around everywhere anyway… and who knows, maybe I could convince them to help us?" Ash explained. Professor Oak hummed thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off of the list. Ash wasn't too sure he had registered what he'd just said.

"… From what I recall of what I'd heard of the events behind Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic and Flare's disbandings, Lance, Cynthia and Steven were involved in those events. And they're all Champion level trainers of great talent and political significance, so they'd definitely be useful allies, I agree" Oak chimed in "Gary seems an obvious choice, considering how close you are-were-still are? Um… oh, and I suppose Professor Cerise could always be helpful, he certainly has resources you could use as one of his assistants. Professors Kukui and Burnet I understand given your relationship with them, and they're both pretty resourceful too. I'd recommend adding Lusamine to this list if you can, by the way"

Ash nodded, and Oak continued.

"Agent Looker… I think I've met him before, how do you know him?" The Professor asked.

"He helped Dawn, Brock and me out against Team Galactic. And then Iris, Cilan and me again with Team Plasma in Unova. I thought he could help us stop them again… and maybe with the other villain teams? I mean, he is an undercover police officer, he'd probably know a lot of stuff" Said Ash.

"Ah, I see. I wasn't aware of his involvement in those incidents. International Police can be very secretive and all" The Professor said with a nod. He looked up at the ceiling and appeared deep in thought for a moment "… Or not. I don't think the International police exist in this timeline. Or if they do, Agent Looker's not a part of them. He's with the G-Men if I can recall correctly"

"Wait-What!? How'd that happen?" Ash exclaimed. Oak just shrugged sheepishly

"Oh, I don't know, I didn't rewrite the entire history of the world. Ask this Beyonder person" Oak answered incredulously. Burying his nose in the list again he added "And who's ranger Jack Walker?"

"He helped us out with Manaphy"

"Oh right, I remember you telling me about that one now. Okay, I guess a high-ranking Pokemon ranger could be useful at combating villains. And N… is that the man you were talking about the time you recalled your encounters with Team Plasma. The one with green hair that can talk to Pokemon?"

"Yep, that's N"

"Right" Oak nodded again "And Leon… he was the new World Champion in the old timeline, right? You'd met him once?"

"A couple of times, actually. We even worked together to save Galar just before The new universe thing happened. He's the strongest trainer in the world, so why not get his help" Ash replied. Oak chuckled.

"I guess I can't argue with that logic" Oak handed the list back to Ash "These seem like reasonable choices for allies who might be useful if you want to go battling those villainous organizations again. Not sure what some of them can do about getting you to win leagues other than training advice, but one problem at a time… and I still question the Santa Claus example, but I don't want to argue with it either. I notice that none of your friends are on this list, though?"

"Arceus said I can recall the memories of all my Pokemon and the friends I travelled with a long time easy. But I only have twenty tries for anyone else's memories I want to restore… or, nineteen, I already made you remember" Ash explained.

"Ah, right, I forgot" Oak smacked his forehead, looking like he was drifting off for a moment "Again… so much to take in"

"Do you need another moment to calm down?" Ash asked worriedly. Oak shook his head.

"No, no I'm fine" Oak thought about that a bit harder "… No, no, I'm not fine. I'm still very confused, uneasy and questioning the state of reality right now… but I'll be fine eventually when I've adjusted to all this information and contemplate the state of my existence"

Silence.

"… So, did you just want my advice over the choices on this list of yours, or is there more to it?" Oak asked.

"Well…" Ash began, scratching his head "I was wondering… how many of them do you think you could help me get in touch with? I'm sure you can call Professor Kukui at any time and ask him to help you with research, or maybe send me to Alola when I'm training for the League, if I have time… but do you think you could help me meet Lance or anyone else early? The sooner I get a chance to remind them, the better"

"Ah, I see" Oak gave a contemplative nod "Well, I can probably get Lance to visit Pallet Town at some point, I do have ties to the Elite 4 and the Pokemon League. Steven and Cynthia might be a bit harder since they're the Champions of other regions, but Lance would be useful in roping them in. Might take me a while though, being a G-man naturally keeps Lance busy, so you might have to bear with me. And you're right about Professor Kukui, I'll sort something out and get back to you in a few months when you've won some badges"

"Gary obviously will be an easy one. And I don't know anyone by the name of Jack Walker, but I do have friends in the Pokemon Ranger Union, so I'll see if I can pull some strings there… beyond that, I'm not sure how much help I can be. I certainly don't have Santa's phone number lying around. Keep me informed about anyone else whose memories you decide to restore, though, I'll see what I can do"

"Okay, Professor. That would all be very helpful" Ash said with a grateful smile.

Professor Oak nodded graciously. Then a look of sudden realization came to his face and he frowned, looking over the list again. When he was finished reading, Oak glanced sternly at Ash "… Also, I notice your mother wasn't on that list… is she exempt from that reminding limit of yours too?"

Ash gulped.

"Tee hee" Ash shrunk back at the accusatory glare the Professor gave him "I, um… thought about it earlier… but then I kinda forgot because of some stuff that happened with Molly"

"Molly… why would-?" Oak's confusion quickly gave way to awkward realisation "Oh… Oh, wait… you didn't know her very long in our normal reality… but in this one, she's like your adopted sister. Oh my… that would be awkward"

Ash scratched the zigzag mark on his left cheek "It kinda was"

"Yes, I understand now" Oak nodded, wincing slightly. He hesitated for a moment, and then "… But you ARE going to restore your mother's memories… right?"

"Well…" Ash trailed off. When he didn't answer after half a minute, Oak groaned disapprovingly.

"Ash, she's your mother. She loves and cares for you more than any person on this planet: In this timeline and the old one. It would be irresponsible and selfish of you not to inform her of all the dangers and troubles you're about to get yourself into" Professor Oak lectured Ash, who looked at the ground in shame "… and beyond that, she'd kill me if she found out I was keeping such a big secret from her and letting you go to war with Villainous organizations behind her back. And I like being alive! Why haven't you reminded her yet?"

"I dunno, Professor" Ash threw up his hands.

"So you're GOING to remind her then?" Oak raised an eyebrow

"NO! She'd freak out!" Ash insisted. Under the confused stare of the professor he added "And really, do you think she'd let me go out and do all this stuff again if she knew about it?"

"You think she obsesses over your safety so much above everything else that she'd willingly stop you from preventing all of reality as we know it from becoming the plaything of a cosmic power who'd pick apart our world for his own amusement?"

Ash's face went blank "… … … well, when you put it that way… probably not?"

"Sooo…" Professor Oak tapped his foot and looked expectantly at Ash.

"… I um..." Ash hesitated, pursing his lips "… I'll think about it. But does she really need to know? She had a small heart attack whenever I told her about all the times I nearly got killed before I got sent back in time. What if this time she decides she's had enough?"

"We have to trust that won't be her reaction" Oak answered simply. Ash deflated

"… *Sigh* maybe you're right. But can it at least wait? Until I've reminded some more people, so even if she doesn't approve of the villain fighting stuff at least there'll be other people who can handle that while I just try and win enough leagues?" Ash offered. Professor Oak hummed.

"… Oh, alright. I guess that sounds reasonable. And we probably don't have the time to keep arguing about this right now, with everything you're going to need to do" Oak admitted. But he made sure to give Ash the most stern glare he could make "… But I don't know about this, Ash. It isn't like you to keep such a thing a secret from her"

"I just…" Ash hesitated again "… I know she worries about me a lot. And… if I do win all the leagues, and Arceus gets to put the world back the way it's supposed to be… who's to say we'll remember all this anyway? Is it worth making her worry so much about all of this?"

The Kitchen fell silent for a moment as Oak contemplated that explanation.

"… You're a compassionate young man, Ash. But keeping secrets from those close to you isn't a wise practise. Secrets of this magnitude especially always blow up in your face if you keep them to yourself for too long. It's your decision, and I guess I can understand if you want to save those memory restorations for people who can be more actively helpful in saving the world with you… but I urge you to think this through carefully going forward, at least"

Another moment of silence. And then Ash nodded "I understand, Professor"

Oak sighed. A vibration sound suddenly caught his attention, and he pulled out a pokegear. He narrowed his eyes cautiously at the screen.

"… Speak of Giratina… text from your mother, she and Molly are on their way over to see you off. I advise we get you and Pikachu reacquainted before we do anything else" Said Oak.

Ash's face lit up. Pikachu. His first Pokemon, and his very best friend in any reality. So much had been on Ash's mind since before leaving the house that he had somehow forgotten just how badly he was missing his little yellow best friend, and now any lingering pain in his heart from watching Pikachu fade out of existence was quickly slipping away as Ash's whole body trembled with anticipation. So without another word, he blitzed past the professor and straight into the lab.

"Hold your Ponytas, Ash" Oak called as he rushed after the enthusiastic teenager.

Once they were both inside the lab, Oak approached the pedestal in the middle of the room, atop which two poke-balls were placed. Ash noticed in a quick recollection of his memories of the old timeline that there had been 3 pokeballs on the pedestal the first time, but all of them empty because all the other starter Pokemon besides Pikachu had been chosen already.

… Even though really, Gary, Amagi and whoever the other gave-up trainer was should have taken the balls with them since their pokemon had to have been registered to them… Did Professor Oak leave those empty pokeballs there as a joke?

"Hmm" Professor Oak hummed, staring at the two pokeballs "I know Gary's home with the flu, but the other trainer should have been here already to pick up their pokemon? I didn't hear the door knock though, where could they be… oh well, I'll worry about that if they don't show up by noon"

Professor Oak pressed a button, and a slot opened up in the centre of the pedestal, a pokeball with a distinct lightning bolt symbol on the front rising out of it. Getting excited, Ash immediately snatched up the ball and pressed the button to open it.

"Pikachu, I choose you!"

A flash of light, and the little yellow mouse stood before them.

"Pikachu"

"In some ways, you're very lucky, you know" Oak told the grinning Ash with some amusement "Not every boy can say they got to meet their best friend twice"

"Pikachu!" Ash declared, scooping up his little yellow pal and giving him a big hug "I missed you, little buddy!"

"Um, Ash…"

"CHUUUUUUUUUU!"

On the path outside, a passing man jumped back five feet in surprise as bolts of lightning blasted out from one of the windows of Oak's laboratory.

"… Oh, right" A dazed, fuzzy haired Ash groaned, smoke billowing out of his mouth as he spoke "Pikachu was like this before we made friends, wasn't he"

"I'm surprised you forgot" Oak laughed, having ducked to the ground to avoid being shocked himself.

"Pi-kaa!" Ash blinked, nervously holding Pikachu out in front of him as the little yellow Pokemon's cheeks began sparking once more. He didn't look happy to be in Ash's arms.

Quickly panicking, Ash shut his eyes and screamed "GAH, remember!"

He waited a few moments for lighting to strike him once again, but nothing happened. Cautiously, Ash's left eye peeked open, and he saw Pikachu staring back at him, now suddenly smiling and looking a lot calmer.

"Pikapi _*Ash*?_ " Said Pikachu.

The trainer blinked at that, momentarily taken aback.

"How… oh right, Arceus said I'd be able to understand what you guys are saying. Huh, glad that works too then" Pikachu looked extremely confused at his trainer's words.

"Pikachu? _*Arceus, what? Did I miss something*_?" Pikachu questioned. Then suddenly he started looking around "… Pi, pikachu? _*And when did we get to Oak's lab, weren't we at the park. And where'd Angie go… and did you get taller, Ash?*_ "

"It's a long story, buddy" Ash sighed "But point is, reality got reset, we travelled back in time, and now I can understand everything you say"

Pikachu stared silently at Ash for a good ten seconds before frowing "… Pika, pikachu pika _*… oookay… I'm trying to decide whether that, or the time you got eaten by red blood cells and revived by Mew is the weirdest thing that's happened to us so far...*_ "

Pikachu suddenly found himself pulled into another hug, though this time he made no effort to resist and just enjoyed the sudden affection.

"I am so glad you remember me" Ash sighed. Pikachu made a sound very similar to purring. To the side of them Professor Oak was smiling, but only for a brief moment before he got serious and made a loud coughing noise to get Ash and Pikachu's attention.

"As much as I'd like to give you two more time to reconnect and take full advantage of this unique opportunity for perfect Pokemon to human communication you've supposedly been gifted with, I should inform you both that Delia and Molly will be here any minute now. So, since I assume that means you'll be heading out soon and I won't hear from you until you're in Viridian at least, Ash, I'd just like to inform you that if you have any more urgent requests or questions, now's the time to ask"

"Oh, right, okay" Ash nodded, placing Pikachu back on the pedestal in front of him, pocketing his pokeball and pulling his right glove out of his pocket in the process and putting it back on. He leaned down so he was at eye level with Pikachu before speaking to him again "Okay, I know you're probably confused, but I promise I'll explain when we're alone again. For now just bear with me and don't do anything suspicious around mom or Molly… they can't understand you, though, so we should be fine. But just act cute, alright?"

"Pika? _*Okay, but who's Molly?*_ " Pikachu said with a frown.

"Molly Hale, from Johto"

"Pika? Chu? _*The Unown girl? What's she doing here?*_ "

"She's my sister now… sort of… I'll explain that later too"

"… Pika… _*…Sister…*_ " Pikachu drifted off for a minute. He shook his head "Pikachu _*Um, okay, whatever. But you owe me a lot of ketchup with that explanation*_ "

"… It's nice to see you haven't changed, buddy" Ash sighed, turning to Professor Oak who suddenly handed him a pokegear "… Why-?"

"Because Rotom phones aren't widely used yet outside of Galar, and I want some reliable way to stay in touch with you when you're not at the Pokemon Center. I won't call straight away because I have other stuff to do and my own baggage to sift through with these memories, but it should still come in handy" Oak replied curtly.

"Oh… thank you" Ash said, smiling gratefully "Yeah, that… that should help. Oh, right-do you know why I'm sixteen here too when I should be ten at this point?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with how in this timeline, Pokemon trainers in Kanto and most other regions get their license at sixteen instead of ten"

"Okay, but why'd that change?"

"Again, how would I know the answer to something like that?! I'm not the one that altered the world to be like this" Oak threw up his arms in exasperation "Next question, please"

"Okay, so what're the other big differences in this world I should be aware of?"

"There are various tribes of anthropomorphic talking animals unrelated to Pokemon, locally known as Mobians, that mainly live in a small region called Knothole North of Johto. But they're also known to live in Kanto, Johto, the Orange Islands, Alola and Galar. Most of them live in their own cities, but you'll probably meet some randomly here or there.

There's another dimension parallel to ours that scientists have recently discovered called the Digital World, filled with creatures similar but very different to Pokemon, dubbed Digimon… we think they can also talk, but few people have been able to make contact with them or breach through the barriers to this realm yet.

Silph Co. Was bought out 20 years ago by the richest man in the world… who happens to be a talking duck named Scrooge. The International Police don't exist, and the G-Men are a larger organisation that mostly serve a similar purpose… which I already told you earlier. Whoops, sorry.

Dynamaxing is now a phenomenon found in various regions, though only in a very few specific places in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Unova, Alola and Johto has it been observed so far. It's still most commonly observed in Galar, which is the only region where it's used in competitive Pokemon battles. Mega Evolution is also more commonly observed outside of Kalos these days.

Superheroes are a semi-common phenomenon now. Are you getting all this, Ash?"

Ash and Pikachu's jaws reached their chests and they were both gaping at the old professor. Ash forced his mouth shut and nodded weakly.

"More or less…"

"Good, because I'm not repeating all that right now. You'll probably figure a lot of the big changes out on your own as you go along… or some things might come back to you if you already knew about them in this timeline, I don't know?" Oak shrugged "But the important thing is, if you meet a non-human creature that talks or even just doesn't look like a Pokemon you're familiar with, scan it with your Pokedex if you're curious. If it doesn't register, DON'T throw a ball at it!"

"Alright… I don't really catch a lot of Pokemon that I don't make friends with first, come to think of it. And i always scan anything that looks like a new pokemon with the Pokedex first anyway, so that… probably wasn't going to be a problem?" Ash offered.

Oak shrugged again "Better to be safe than sorry. Oh, also-"

*Ding Dong!*

"… That's either the trainer here to pick up Charmander, or your mother. Either way, I guess we don't have time to discuss matters any further" Oak sighed in defeat.

Ash motioned for Pikachu to hop up on his shoulder, which he did, and followed Professor Oak to the front door. He felt a bit mixed about the interruption. On the one hand… there was still SO much Ash would like to ask about the current state of the world and more advice he would like to ask the professor for.

But on the other hand… there was a lot he was still already taking in and he kinda just wanted to go to Viridian, find Misty, Brock and whatever of his old Pokemon were nearby, call Angie to make sure she was doing okay… and just relax for a moment, because this was already so very exhausting.

"Ah, Delia. And Molly too. Come in, Ash and I were expecting you" Professor Oak greeted, welcoming in his new guests.

"Thank you, professor. Hi hun, I made you some snacks in case you get hungry out there" Delia said, cheerfully holding up a plate full of squares of… something wrapped in tin foil. Probably sandwiches?

"WOW, a Pikachu!" Molly squealed. Ash smiled at his partner, held out his arm so his hand was right in front of Molly and motioned down to it. Pikachu took the hint and climbed down to face Molly, presenting his head in a way that encouraged her to pet him. Which she readily did "He's so cute!"

"He sure is… but, Pikachu's not one of the usual starter Pokemon people start with in Pallet Town, right?" Delia glanced at Professor Oak, who scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh, yes, well. I only had one of each starter available at the moment. I had arranged for four lots of starters to be sent over, so each trainer got to make their preferred choice, but one lot got sick and the breeder couldn't transport them, the other breeder accidentally sent me a bunch of Rattata somehow, and there was an… unfortunate accident involving a car crash with the others… so, you know. After that series of disasters I kind of just had to make do with whatever else I had available. I don't think Ash minded at all, he jumped at the chance to choose it" Explained Professor Oak, with a slight grimace towards the end.

"It's a good deal. Pikachu's just as special as the other starters" Molly insisted, scratching Pikachu's chin. Pikachu was purring again.

"Pika, pikapi _*I think I'm gonna like your sister, Ash*_ " Pikachu cooed.

"Yeah, you would" Ash whispered, just quietly enough no one would hear. Then he face faulted "Wait, car crash?!"

Professor Oak made a shushing motion, glancing quickly at Molly who was still too enamoured with Pikachu to have actually thought much about the implications of what the Professor had been saying, and the very clear "Not in front of the child!" Look the Professor gave Ash made it plain he wanted to keep it that way. So Ash mouthed a simple okay, still feeling very awkward and concerned.

Pikachu let out a content sigh, which got Molly to giggle and coo over Pikachu, who she quickly swiped off of Ash's hand and gave a big hug. Ash clenched his teeth at the sight of it, and recalling how his first encounter with Bonnie went he carefully motioned to Molly to calm down and said "Uh, just so you know, Pikachu shoots electricity from his cheeks when he's scared or uncomfortable... try not to hold him too tightly"

Molly blinked innocently at Ash, and swiftly softened her grip on Pikachu. Luckily she did, as she noticed when looking down at the yellow mouse's face that Pikachu had been frowning irritably, but let out a calm sigh after Molly's hug eased up. Molly put on a strained smile, laughing uncomfortably.

"Um... okay" Molly said tepidly, nervously cradling Pikachu like a baby. Ash nodded approvingly, glad that potential disaster was averted.

"Good advice, but I wouldn't be too scared, sweetie. He looks like a very polite Pikachu, so I'm sure he'll still appreciate a nice cuddle if you're gentle" Delia said sweetly to Molly, then looked at Ash. She blinked curiously, eyes narrowing on a few scorch marks along Ash's blue jacket. She raised her head to give her son a teasing smirk "... It's also good advice to practice what you preach"

Ash scratched the back of his head, looking away sheepishly. Delia shook her head.

"Oh well, I'm sure that won't become a habit once you two get to know each other" Delia said.

Pikachu burst out laughing hysterically in response, much to Molly's surprise "Pikachu! *Oh, she has no idea!*"

Ash hastily shushed at Pikachu, who's behavior was earning confused stares from Delia and Molly. Professor Oak rolled his eyes, musing that Ash was probably lucky he was the only one who could understand Pikachu.

When Pikachu finally stifled his laughter and began happily climbing up onto Molly's shoulder to nuzzle against her cheeks (with his nose, he knew better than to try that with his own cheeks), which made Molly ease up and squeal in delight, Delia shook her head and handed the plastic plate of covered goods to Ash.

"This should last you until you get to Viridian City. Remember, Pokemon Centers generally provide free meals to starting trainers but that's only for a couple of months. Try to be wise about how you spend your savings, and try to find a good way to earn some money while you're traveling" Delia lectured.

Ash nodded "Already got a plan for that" he said. Back in the old timeline, Ash typically had prize money transferred into his bank account by the local Pokemon Leagues whenever he won a gym battle or did well at a tournament of some kind. He was never a rich kid, but he performed well enough that he and his friends were rarely ever left wanting for food or other necessary supplies on Ash's old journey. He assumed the same applied here in this timeline.

Ash did briefly wonder how much money he had with his supposed savings. He was sure there was a wallet with a debit card in his backpack, so he could probably find an ATM somewhere in Viridian City to check.

"Remember to call me regularly, and if you need any support I'll send you money and supplies" Delia said. Ash smiled gratefully.

"I will, but don't worry. I'll have everything I need" Ash said in a reassuring tone.

"Did you remember to-"

"YES, mom, I packed clean underwear!" Ash yelled, already rolling his eyes and blushing slightly at that predictable routine. Pikachu, Molly and Professor Oak giggled deviously, while Delia just smiled, closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"Well alright then" Delia said in an almost wistful voice. She leaned forward and carefully wrapped her arms around her son, hugging him carefully from the side so he wouldn't lose his grip on the plate of food she had given him. She sighed lowly, stroking Ash's hair "Good luck, then. Just promise me you'll look after yourself, and try not to do anything too dangerous"

Ash felt his heart drop at that. He clenched his teeth and gripped the plastic plate in his hand tightly... maybe Professor Oak was right. Maybe it was a bad idea to hold off on restoring his mother's memories: maybe he should just do it now, get the initial concern over with.

He slowly started to remove his right hand from the plastic plate... but then retained his grip on it.

Could he even do it right now? Molly was here watching, and Ash didn't really know whether reminding her too right now would be the most practical idea long term... or even particularly helpful. Would it really do Molly much good to drag the mind of a version of her who had both her parents with her into a timeline where her mother was still missing, and Ash didn't currently have a solid plan to get her back?

And beyond that, Delia's words just reminded him of why he was hesitant to remind her in general. If she knew right away how much trouble he was about to get into, how much grief would that cause her?

"I... promise I'll try" Ash finally grumbled, hating himself for it.

Pikachu and Professor Oak sighed wearily, looking concerned, but Delia didn't seem to notice, just giving her son an encouraging pat on the back and leaning back to smile warmly at him. It made Ash feel so, so much dirtier than he already did... for now, he decided, maybe it was best to just retrace his steps for a bit and get a good head start on completing his quest. But the next time he saw his mother, he WOULD return her memories and tell her all about his mission... He owed her that.

"But seriously, you do have everything you need before setting out, right?" Delia asked prudently, unaware of Ash's inner grief.

Ash shook his head, trying to stay focused on the here and now "I... think so" Ash said, scratching his chin and suddenly feeling like there actually was something else he needed to do "... Professor?"

"Hmm?" Professor Oak hummed, looking deep in thought for a moment. A look of panic overtook the old man's face and he let out a sharp gasp, quickly rushing back to his lab. He returned a minute later to awkwardly hold out a red device to Ash, chuckling bashfully "... Can't forget the Pokedex!"

Ash gulped, feeling great relief as well as a lot of irritation at himself for not thinking of one of his most important tools as a trainer as he graciously accepted and carefully pocketed the Pokedex.

"I'm surprised you both almost forgot about that" Delia said, scratching her head and looking at Oak with some amusement. The Professor just carefully averted his gaze from her.

"I... have a lot on my mind this morning" Professor Oak answered truthfully "... It's nothing, don't ask"

Delia briefly raised an eyebrow at the Professor's hasty tone, but nodded along and honoured his request. Still feeling awkward and not wanting to drag things out here unless he said something else stupid, Ash cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention and said "Well, I think I'm going to leave now"

"What?! Already?" Molly asked, looking at Ash with a disappointed pout. Ash gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, but I have a lot of ground to cover to get to Viridian and I want to get the best head start I can" Ash gently explained. Molly kept pouting.

"I was hoping you'd both wait a bit longer" Molly said quietly, holding up her right hand to gently stroke Pikachu's head.

Ash smiled softly at the tiny brunette. Feeling those newfound brotherly instincts kicking in again, Ash carefully bent down slightly, held up the plate of snacks he was holding with his right hand while extending his left hand to affectionately ruffle Molly's hair.

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that. But it'll be fine... like I said, I'll see you again as soon as I can" Ash said gently. Noticing the lingering frown on Molly's face, he eagerly added "Tell you what. I'm gonna call home regularly, and when you get to Greenfield I'll call you every time I stop by a new Pokemon Center, and tell you about all of the cool stuff I get up to on my journey. And at some point, I'll stop by your house in Greenfield, and you can play with Pikachu and all the other Pokemon I catch all you want. How's that sound"

Thankfully that did get Molly to brighten up very quickly, and she nodded approvingly at Ash "That sounds like so much fun!"

"It's a promise then" Ash said, lowering his hand onto Molly's right shoulder. Molly stared curiously at it, then nodded in understanding, petting Pikachu again before motioning towards Ash's arm. Pikachu gave Molly one last affectionate cheek nuzzle before scurrying along to settle back onto Ash's shoulder.

Ash stood upright again, and Pikachu smiled down at Molly. The little girl giggled endearingly at the cute mouse, then gingerly twirled her fingers together for a few seconds before hugging Ash "Good luck, Ash... you're the best. I just know you'll be a great Pokemon Master.

Ash grinned weakly, wrapping his free arm around Molly's shoulders.

"I'll do my best!" Ash said loudly and confidently, but feeling very anxious on the inside 'And for everyone's sake, I just hope that's enough'

After waiting a few minutes until Molly was all hugged out and Delia had had her own chance to give Pikachu a good stroke and get properly acquainted with her son's first Pokemon, Ash took off out the front door. Delia, Molly and Professor Oak followed him out to the top of the steps leading back to the public footpath.

"Goodbye, honey. Safe travels" Delia said kindly.

"Make sure you call me too when you arrive in Viridian City" Professor Oak said casually, but giving Ash a very serious look. Ash nodded curtly at him, then smiled and waved at his mother and Molly.

"Thanks for everything Professor! Talk to you all later. Love you mom, take care Molly, call you all in Viridian, bye!" Ash said, taking off down the stairs. Slowly and carefully, of course, so as not to add to his slowly growing collection of forehead bruises.

"Pika! _*Seeya!*_ " Pikachu called, waving back at everyone.

The trio gathered at the steps watched Ash descend down the stairway, waving back at them all until he eventually disappeared around the bend.

When he was gone Molly put her hands together and sighed. Delia keeled down and hugged her from behind, shaking her head after her son.

"I guess he has been waiting him whole life for this, so I guess we can't expect him to be patient" Delia laughed. She stroked Molly's hair "He'll be fine though. And we'll see him again before you know it"

"I know" Molly nodded, smiling sweetly at Delia "After all... He promised"

Delia giggled, hugging Molly tighter. Professor Oak smiled warmly at them for a moment, but any mirth he felt was cut short by a sudden thump of his head, requiring him to nurse a stress-induced migraine. He looked down over the path leading away from his home with a worried frown.

_'For all of our sakes, Ash, please be careful out there...'_

Delia, Molly and Oak stood at the doorsteps for a good several minutes after Ash left. None of them noticed the feminine figure sneaking into the building behind them through the shattered glass windows of Oak's lab.

Wearing a mask and a hairnet of some kind over her long hair, the mystery girl looked around carefully, double checking a broken, half melted camera hanging from the roof of the lab as she quietly made her way over to the pedestal where to Pokeballs still sat.

The girl gently swiped one of the pokeballs out of its slot on the pedestal with her gloved hand, then pulled out another pokeball from her dress pocket and put it down in place of the ball she had taken, making sure it was in the exact same position.

Pocketing the stolen pokeball, the masked girl chuckled mischievously to herself before slipping out of the lab again through the window, taking care not to let any of the broken glass graze her skin or clothes.

The girl then quietly fled the scene before anyone could notice her.

* * *

"… and that's when you shocked me" Ash finished up his recollection of why they were in their current position to Pikachu.

"… Pika, pi pikachu… pika _*… I always knew some maniac with a God complex was going to destroy the world for stupid reasons eventually. I just thought it'd be some guy with goofy hair like Cyrus or Lysandre and not, you know… an actual God*_ " Pikachu quipped.

"The way Arceus talked about him, The Beyonder doesn't sound like the God of anything. Just some weird guy with the power of one" Ash said, thinking out loud more than anything.

"Pi… Pika? Chu? _*So… he's the Phione of deities then? Except actually really dangerous and tough*_?" Pikachu inquired. Ash shrugged, not really sure how to respond.

The two stopped by a tree somewhere in the middle of Route one, Ash taking a seat on a large rock and pulling out one of the wads of tin foil his mother had handed him. Turns out one was a sandwich after all, Peanut butter and jelly, but another was a riceball. He handed that one to Pikachu and started eating the sandwich himself.

After finishing his first bite from the rice ball, Pikachu asked another question "Pika, Pikachu? _*So, basically, the fate of the world now depends on you winning at least five leagues and then becoming the World champion, right*_ "

"That's the simple version, yes" Ash nodded. Pikachu bit into another mouthful of rice, waiting a small moment after swallowing it to respond.

"Pika _*Boy, we are in trouble*_ "

"Hey!" Ash whined "I'm an experienced Pokemon trainer this time around, remember? I'm the Champion of Alola and the Orange Islands, I conquered the Battle Frontier, and I saved the world a few dozen times. I can totally win 5 leagues if I put my mind to it, maybe all 7 even!"

"Pikachu? _*Okay, and what's your strategy for when we meet Tobias again?*_ " Pikachu asked smugly. Ash facefalted.

"… Ok, so Sinnoh might be difficult. But I'll think of something"

"Pikachu, pi. Pi Pika _*Hey, jokes aside, you are a good trainer. And I'm pretty strong myself. I'm sure we can win a few leagues, but let's be realistic here… this is going to be hard. We're both going to have to bust our tails if we're going to have any chance at winning this whole stupid bet*_ " Pikachu said, taking another small bite of rice before adding "Pikapika _*Lucky I'm so tough though, that should give us a good head start*_ "

Ash was about to take another bite of his sandwich when something clicked in his head. He looked Pikachu up and down thoughtfully, and a look of concern soon spread across his face. Hearing a cooing sound, Ash turned to see a Pidgey land nearby and start pecking at the ground. He let out a loud hmm.

"Hey, Pikachu. Remember when we left Pallet Town the last time, and you wouldn't listen to me when I wanted you to battle a Pidgey?" He asked. Pikachu swallowed what he was eating and frowned.

"Pikachu? Pi _*You can't possibly still be sore about that, right? That was literally a lifetime ago*_ " Pikachu groaned. Then suddenly he chuckled "Pi pika _*It was pretty funny when you tried stuffing it in your shirt and it sent you flying, though*_ "

"No it wasn't…" Ash grumbled. He shook his head "And no, I mean, why don't we do some quick sparring to see where you're at?"

Pikachu blinked and stared at the Pidgey "Pikachu. Pi, pika _*You know, I overpowered the signature Z-Move of a legendary Pokemon recently. A wild Pidgey seems a bit tame for me as a sparring partner*_ ".

"I want to test something. And you did say we'd need to prepare ourselves if we're going to win at those leagues, right?" Ash goaded. Pikachu looked at him uncertainly for a moment, eventually shrugging and finishing off what remained of his rice ball in a hurry before jumping down in front of Ash.

"Pi. Pika pikachu. Pika! _*Ah, okay. I could use a chance to unwind after being trapped in that accursed ball again, anyway. Let's get 'im!*_ " Pikachu said, cheeks sparking in determination. Ash got up and approached the Pidgey, who stopped pecking at the ground to curiously examine him.

"Coo?"

"Pidgey, I challenge you to a battle!" Ash declared, Pikachu leaping in front of him again and striking an intimidating pose. The Pidgey craned it's neck, just staring blankly at the duo for a moment before it abruptly turned serious, did a "Come on" type of motion with its wing and flew up a few feet into the air, striking its own threatening pose.

 _'Okay, here we go'_ Ash braced himself before shouting his first command "Pikachu, use electro web"

Pikachu leapt into the air and began charging electricity around it tail. Halfway through a mid-air swing, he began to shape the lightning into a net… and it just dispersed instead. Pikachu was so caught off guard by this he lost his balance and landed on his face.

"P-pika? _*W-what the…?*_ " Pikachu gasped, and Ash grit his teeth in concern. Theory confirmed?

"COO!" Pikachu had no time to react before Pidgey suddenly swooped down and hit him with a Tackle, sending the electric mouse flying back a few feet behind Ash. He caught his footing mid roll and skid to a halt, growling in annoyance.

"Pi... Ka? _*Hey, that… actually… hurt?*_ " Pikachu trailed off for a moment, looking perturbed. Pidgey squawked at him, goading him into another attack.

Ash gulped "Okay, that's not going to work. Do you think you can use iron tail?"

"Pi? _*Can I?*_ " Pikachu said uncertainly. He frowned, a determined fire in his eyes as he began sprinting in Pidgey's direction. Pikachu charged up energy through his tail, leapt once more into the air and began spinning. Once again, however, the energy in his tail dispersed, and in his panic he ended up missing Pidgey and landing uncomfortably a few feet past the small bird Pokemon.

Pidgey just turned around and stared oddly at Pikachu, cocking it's head and letting out a confused squawk. On the ground, Pikachu was starting to panic.

"P-pika! _*What-what's happening to me…?*_ "

"Pikachu, I'm sorry!" Ash called "I hadn't thought of it until now, but… you know how we're back to the day we first met? I think… I think you're back to being as strong as you were on that day, too!"

Pikachu gaped at his trainer "... Pi- _*… Oh sh-*_ "

Pikachu's profanity was cut off as he was suddenly caught up in a gust attack from the wild Pidgey, sending him flying up into the air and landing shortly after with a powerful thud that left him in a slight daze for a moment. Pidgey let out a loud cry, looking ready to launch another attack. Ash clenched his fist.

"Pikachu, quick, thundershock!" Ash commanded, certain he could still use that move.  
Thankfully he was right, as Pikachu quickly shook off the impact of the fall and struck Pidgey dead on with a small bolt of lightning. Pidgey flew back a few feet, barely managing to remain airborn as now it was the one in a daze. Not even waiting for further instruction, Pikachu charged forth with a quick attack and rammed into the Pidgey, sending it to the ground.

Pikachu panted, slightly from fatigue but more from stress. Ash ran up to his friend, dropping to his knees and putting a hand on his Pokemon's head. Pidgey got unsteadily to its feet. Clearly having had quite enough, the bird Pokemon began hobbling away unsteadily, a bit too weak from that last attack to fly right now.

"You okay, buddy?" Ash asked gently. Pikachu just stared vacantly at the ground.

"Pi... ka... _*I'm… I'm weak…*_ "

"It's okay" Ash said, rubbing Pikachu's back reassuringly "You can train and get your strength back. It's not that bad-"

"Pika... pi. Pika. Pikachu... pika _*I was strong… I beat a Regice. Tied with a Latios. And I beat Tapu Koko… and now I can't even beat a Pidgey with one hit…*_ " Pikachu began hyperventilating.

"Pikachu, it's going to be alright. I promise" Ash said softly. Pikachu began shaking uncontrollably, looking like he was having a full on break down… but then suddenly stopped, took a deep breath and calmly exhaled.

"Pikapi _*Ash*_ " Pikachu said simply. Ash nodded, even though Pikachu wasn't looking at him

"Pikachu. PIKA Pi. Pika, pika... pikachu! _*This is all very stressful for me. I'll be fine in a moment, but right now I REALLY could use a chance to vent. So I'd like you to please take cover, because believe me… you won't want to be in striking distance for what I'm about to do!*_ "

"Oh… okay then" Ash gulped, quickly scanning the area for cover as Pikachu began growling and charging up electricity in his cheeks. His first thought was to make a break for the tree they'd just been sitting by, but noticing a large bush was much closer and not wanting to waste any time, Ash jumped right in. Pikachu kept storing electricity for about half a minute, his rage building with each passing second until it hit the boiling point and he let out a might roar.

"PI… KA… CHUUUUUUUU!"

And many enormous blasts of lightning fired off in multiple directions, creating quite a spectacle that spooked many nearby Pidgey's and Rattata into running for cover.

When it was all over, Ash gingerly poked his head out of the bush and observed his Pokemon friend, who was panting slowly and steadily. Carefully pulling himself out of the bush, Ash tiptoed over to Pikachu, who after fully catching his breath again let out a calm sigh, followed by a hearty laugh.

"Pi, Pikachu?! Pika! _*Well, I'd say lightning that size counts as a thunderbolt, wouldn't you?! Guess I'm not all that pathetic now*_ " Pikachu said proudly. Ash rolled his eyes and chuckled. Pikachu smiled back at him for a moment but then turned away, something catching his attention "Pika _*Oh, hey, one of them's still going*_ "

Ash took a look and saw that a bolt of lightning was currently descending from the sky, quickly hitting the ground somewhere further down the track they'd previously been walking on that lead to Viridian City. Seconds after it landed, they heard the echo of a scream that sounded very much human.

Ash and Pikachu gaped in the direction the thunderbolt had struck, jaws fallen in horror. They exchanged concerned looks.

"… Pika. Pikachu _*We were never here. If anyone asks, Zekrom did it*_ " Pikachu said hastily. Ash ignored him and began running down the path, Pikachu sighing as he chased after him

"Pika! _*It's worth a shot!*_ "

A short trek later Ash and Pikachu arrived at the scene of the latter's crime. There they found a teenage girl frantically examining the smoldering wreckage of… Ash was sure it was once a bicycle…

And while he couldn't see her face as she was facing away from him, the girl he was looking at clearly had red hair with a side ponytail, and an outfit he'd recognise anywhere…

Ash and Pikachu exchanged incredulous looks, glancing nervously at the girl as she stood up, stamped her feet and let out a very recognisable sigh of frustration.

"… What even are the odds?"

"Uuugh! Of all the rotten… I know it's cloudy today, but they didn't look THAT gray to me. Where the hell did that come from!" The red haired girl yelled, crossing her arms and huffing in frustration. Ash gulped and inadvertedly let out a nervous chuckle.

Evidently it caught the girl's attention, as she quickly turned around to face him, a quizzical expression on her face.

A face Ash knew very well. And despite the awkward circumstances, looking into those deep green eyes, the boy felt a rush of excitement.

 _'Misty'_ Ash sighed.

The first friend he ever made on his journeys besides Pikachu. And out of all the people he was honoured to call his best friends (That weren't Pikachu, anyway), if you had to press him: He'd admit she probably came the closest to being THE best friend.  
All the awkwardness of the previous moment briefly faded away as Ash just grinned in delight at seeing her again after over half a year since they'd last met up in the old timeline.

It didn't last, and the awkwardness started setting back in when Misty met his familiar grin with an uncertain, somewhat off-put frown, like she didn't recognise him at all.

Which, of course, she wouldn't.

"Who-?" Misty began before catching sight of Pikachu, who she examined closely. Pikachu's expression was blank at first, but quickly turned frantic as he began wildly gesturing to his trainer.

"PIKA! Pikachu! _*IT WAS HIM! Not me, I was framed, he made me do it!*_ "

Ash face faulted. After a moment Pikachu suddenly froze in his tracks, realization of just what he was doing setting in. A large drop of sweat formed on the side of Pikachu's head, he turned to Ash to see the trainer was now grinding his teeth and glaring daggers at him.

Pikachu chuckled weakly "… Pi... _*...Woops…*_ "

Ash growled in annoyance, which was nothing compared to the furious roar that Misty gave him. The enraged redhead began stomping over towards Ash, who in absolute terror ran backwards just a little too fast and tripped over, leaving him completely at the girl's mercy as she drew near. Panic overtaking him, Ash's mind began racing for any possible way to avert the oncoming catastrophe.

"Um, Misty, I… HEY LOOK, A BUG TYPE!" Ash screamed the first thing that came to his mind.

Instantaneously as the words left his mouth, Misty froze in her track, the rage and colour melting off her face and being replaced with panic equal to that Ash and Pikachu were experiencing, if not exceeding theirs.

"WAAAAH! BUGS! WHERE?!" Misty shrieked, looking around frantically. Heart racing, Ash seized the opportunity and crawled forward as fast as he could, grabbing Misty by the leg.

"H-HEY!? What are you-?!"

"Remember!" Ash yelled. Silence followed. Ash let go of Misty's leg and looked up at the girl, who was staring into space, eyes glazed over.

An indescribable level of relief washed over Ash as he stood up and looked carefully at his friend's face. She didn't seem to register he was looking, just looking straight on, eyes and cheeks twitching. Ash raised a hand awkwardly, hesitating to tap her shoulder to try and get Misty's attention, when the girl suddenly closed her eyes, groaned and stumbled backwards.

Ash hastily grabbed on to Misty's shoulders to try and steady her, and luckily she seemed to recover her balance pretty fast, along with her sense of awareness as she was now staring back at him with a look of dawning realization.

"Ash…" Misty said softly. Ash sighed in relief, giving her a welcoming smile.

"Hi Misty. Good to see you again" Ash said sincerely. Misty smiled weakly at him, then looked down at Pikachu, who was equally relieved that she had calmed down and was now greeting the girl with a thumbs up. Misty giggled at him.

"Hi Pikachu" Misty greeted, looking up again to look Ash straight in the eye. Her smile turned into a frown again, though this time a more playful one as she leaned in closer to Ash until their noses almost touched and she grabbed the collar of his shirt "You and Pikachu just barbequed my bike again, didn't you?"

"We…" Ash gulped. After a brief pause he sighed in resignation "Yeah… we did. Sorry"

Misty leaned back and shook her head, wagging her finger in mock disapproval "What am I going to do with you two" Then she stopped playfully turning her finger and jammed it forcefully into Ash's chest "Now what the heck just happened!? "

"Do you have twenty minutes?"

* * *

_***25** **minutes** **later,** **elsewhere** **on** **Route** **1***_

"Um, okay Bulby… use frenzy plant!" Amagi declared.

Her Bulbasaur stared back at Amagi like she'd just asked him to play the bagpipes while dancing the Macarena. Amagi's face drooped and she facepalmed in shame.

"Frenzy Plant is an advanced move that you can't do as a Bulbasaur, isn't it?"

"Bulba" Her Bulbasaur nodded awkwardly. It then cried out in pain as the Rattata it was supposed to be battling suddenly ran up and tackled it, knocking the poor Bulbasaur onto its back.

"Gah, Bulby!" Amagi gasped. The green-haired girl then blinked as she noticed her opponent fleeing the scene. Panicking, she held out her hand after the retreating Rattata and called "No wait, come… back! Oy. I blew it!"

With a shameful sigh, Amagi knelt down and helped flip her Bulbasaur back onto it's feet. The Plant dino glanced up at her regretfully as she began petting his head "I'm sorry, Bulby… I panicked and forgot what moves to use"

Amagi had returned home for about twenty minutes after finally receiving her starter Pokemon to show Bulby the Bulbasaur off to her mother and grandmother.

Granny had practically fallen in love with the small grass type and had spent pretty much the whole time they were there petting Bulby while giving Amagi advice about how to best make use of grass types abilities in battle and which Gyms she should try to tackle with it. Amagi listened with rapt attention, always grateful for Granny's advice... even if she didn't actually plan to challenge any gyms anytime soon unless she really needed the money. She didn't have the heart to tell Granny that, though... or the nerve to tell her mother.

Speaking of, Amagi's mother was far less impressed with her daughter's choice of Pokemon, just silently glaring at the Bulbasaur and sizing it up through Granny's whole lecture. Wasn't a surprising reaction to Amagi... nothing she had ever done in her life thus far had been met with much enthusiasm or approval by her.

Amagi's mother was an expert trainer, a winner of a previous Indigo League conference in fact. The only resident of Pallet Town who could currently claim such a thing, in fact, even if she was originally from Cinnabar Island. She had never made it past the Elite Four, but her great success as a trainer had made her a very proud, arrogant woman who took great pleasure in lording her superior skills over the other residents of Pallet Town.

It brought her no pleasure to have a nervous klutz with small ambitions for a daughter. Her whole life, Amagi had been aggressively pushed by her mother to be the best at everything... and Amagi had consistently let her down, whether it be academics, sports, practice Pokemon battling or basically anything else. Amagi was so used to seeing a disapproving scowl on that woman's face she had forgotten what she looked like when she smiled.

No surprise then that the first thing that Amagi's mother had said to her when Granny was done talking was to order that Amagi go catch a whole teams worth of Pokemon, and start training like a pro. Granny had scolded her for that and insisted they let Amagi go at her own pace, but Amagi had just diligently agreed, ordering Bulby to follow her out the door after bowing politely to the two older women. Amagi's mother didn't see her daughter gritting her teeth at her as she left.

Amagi didn't care at all about being an ace trainer. She was glad to be away from that woman finally, and do what she actually wanted in life for a change... she still went along with the "Go catch a full team, now" thing though.

Partly because catching lots of Pokemon DID factor into her own reasons for becoming a trainer. But also because, honestly... she really did like the thought of showing her mother she could do it. And rubbing it in her face that no she wasn't completely inept.

...

Now if only she didn't keep seeming to justify that impression everyone had of her.

It wasn't even that she didn't know what she was doing. Amagi had studied Pokemon and battling tactics intensively, and whenever she commanded Pokemon in battle classes at school and her mother wasn't around to watch she was actually decent at it. Not the best in town by far, sure, but she COULD battle. She could even WIN some. And she knew all of her Bulbasaur's moves, so she should have been all set for catching simple things like Pidgey and Rattata, any trainer from Pallet Town could do that.

But for all five times she'd tried to command Bulby to battle a wild Pokemon so far, Amagi just kept picturing her mother, standing over her with her hands on her hips and an expectant frown on her face. Or her classmates, the few who paid her any mind, laughing at her and saying she couldn't do it.

And so Amagi kept freezing up. Or she called the wrong attacks. Or the one time she had gotten her Bulbasaur to land some good hits, she messed up throwing the pokeball and the Pidgey ended up flying away. It was a wonder Bulby kept shaking off all the hits he had taken and seemed determined to keep going.

Bulby didn't seem to hold the string of failures against her, and kept nuzzling up to her and giving her reassuring pats on the head using vine whip. But while it warmed Amagi's heart to see her partner be so supportive, she couldn't help clenching her fists in frustration.

"Bulba?" Bulby said, looking sadly at Amagi with wide, innocent eyes as she gripped the sides of her head. It was enough to get the green haired girl to calm down long enough to take a few deep, steady breaths and collect herself.

"It's fine, really" Amagi gently told her worried Pokemon. Bulby smiled happily at that, which brought a determined smile to Amagi's own face as she nodded "... We'll get the one..."

A loud squawk from nearby made Amagi jump slightly, and she turned to see a Spearow land on the ground next to a bush at the foot of a tall tree, of which there were many in the clearing she was in. The Spearow cocked its head, examining a few red berries lined along the bush before curiously taking a peck at them.

"Hmm..." Amagi hummed thoughtfully at the small Brown, red and black bird, stroking her chin. Taking one more deep breath to fully clear her head and rose to her feet, looking down at her Bulbasaur with a determined expression "This one might be tough... but, want to give it a shot anyway"

"Bulba!" Bulby the Bulbasaur said, nodding eagerly. Amagi nodded back and then approached the Spearow, which stopped picking berries to stare curiously at the girl with the green ponytail. The bird seemed to glare furiously at her. Amagi clenched her first and steelhead her nerves.

 _'I can do this. I CAN do this. I WILL do this'_ Amagi told herself, clenching her fists tighter _'I am NOT useless! This Pokemon is mine!'_

The Spearow cawed threateningly at Amagi, spreading its wings. Amagi gave one more heavy sigh before throwing her hand forward.

"Use tackle!"

Bulby the Bulbasaur dashed forward immediately and tackled the Spearow head on, causing the flying take to roll backwards several feet and grunt in pain.

Amagi smiled widely and gasped, excited that she had actually ordered the correct command. She quickly clenched her teeth and felt her usual panic set back in however as Spearow got to its feet, flew forward and started pecking at the grass types head, clearly causing the grass type much distress.

"Use fre-I mean, VINE WHIP!" Amagi wailed.

"Saur!" Bulby screamed, summoning two green vines from its sides to swat the annoying bird away from him, and then proceeding to smack the Spearow several times in the face.

Grass type attacks weren't very effective on flying types like Spearow of course, but the vine whip was clearly dealing some damage, and the Spearow actually looked a bit dazed when it was all done. Amagi actually felt her heart pounding over it.

"Quick, tackle again!"

Bulby the Bulbasaur did as instructed, and the Spearow was sent crashing into the nearest tree, going motionless for a moment as it hit the ground.

Eyes bulging and mouth agape, Amagi frantically pulled out a pokeball. Recalling what happened with the Pidgey from earlier, Amagi took a few steady breaths and aimed the pokeball VERY carefully before throwing it at the Spearow.

It connected, and Spearow's body was energised and sucked into the pokeball, which began to shake.

Amagi's eyes bulged again in disbelief. And then she squealed, throwing her hands into the air.

"WE DID IT!?" Amagi cheered, proceeding to laugh hysterically.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulby cheered too, holding his head up proudly.

Amagi giggled wildly, shaking with anticipation as she watched the ball shake around, the button along its center glowing red. Her heart stopped for a moment as the ball ceased shaking, and then swelled with pride.

And then the ball popped back open, and Spearow broke free.

Amagi blinked at the freed bird, then facepalmed.

"Shoot! So close!" Amagi whined, rubbing her head.

Spearow shook its head, regaining its composure, and then glared at Amagi. The green haired girl sighed, but clenched her fists again, determined not to let her sudden rush of confidence go to waste. This HAD to be her big break. It just had to!

"Ready to finish it off, Bulby?!" Amagi asked in the most bold tone she could muster. Bulby the Bulbasaur grinned eagerly, crying out in approval as he crouched down and prepared to tackle.

Amagi prepared to call out what very well could have been the decisive move in that battle, but she paused mid sentence, momentarily stunned as the Spearow suddenly spread out its wings and let out a series of ear-piercing shrieks. Amagi actually did have to cover her ears to drown it out, and for a minute all she could do was stare at the wailing bird in concern.

_'Did I... break it?'_

After a little while, Spearow finally hushed up, panting heavily to try and catch it's breath. Amagi removed her hands from her ears and scratched her head, wondering if she should throw another Pokeball.

And then a whole chorus of angry caws rang out from above. Amagi and her Bulbasaur nervously blinked, cranking their heads to see about a dozen Spearows now popping their heads out of the leaves of the tree standing behind Spearow.

A few dozen more Spearow rose up from the other trees in the clearing at the same time. All of them were glaring at Amagi, and their eyes seemed to shine dangerously.

The Spearow Amagi and her Pokemon had been battling made a noise that sounded remarkably like a sinister chuckle.

Amagi grimaced.

_'... ... Uh oh...'_

* * *

_***Meanwhile,** **at** **roughly** **the** **same** **time***_

"… And then Pikachu freaked out for a moment and shot thunderbolts everywhere, and… well, here we are"

As Ash had been finishing off his recollection of his encounter with Arceus and the Beyonder and everything after that, Misty had been helping herself to one of his mother's home made rice balls. She, Ash and Pikachu had moved back to the tree the latter two had been conversing at before the unfortunate battle with Pidgey, Misty's bike having been dragged along and currently still giving off steam by the side of the road.

Misty finished munching on the last few grains of rice from her rice ball a few seconds after Ash had stopped talking and met him with a disgruntled stare.

"That was the most ridiculous, utterly unrealistic story I've ever been told by anyone. And coming from you, Ash Ketchum, I know for a fact it's all true" Misty said plainly "… And the fact I suddenly remember living two different lives helps a bit"

"Uh, right… you doing alright with that? Professor Oak looked really shook up for a while when I did that to him" Ash said with concern. Misty threw back her head and sighed, staring up at the clouds thoughtfully.

"Honestly… I don't know… it just feels so weird. Suddenly I remember living two different lives side by side" Misty trailed off for a moment "When I try to think about either one, there's a lot of stuff that seems exactly the same… but then it's like… on the one hand, I remember getting stuck in the mouth of my family's Gyarados as a baby and nearly getting eaten. And then in another life, that Gyarados was still a magikarp until I was seven"

Misty leaned back on the rock she was sitting on, pressing her back against the tree. She began moving her legs up and down, still pondering the clouds.

"In one life, my sisters have natural blonde, pink and blue hair… and in the other one-I… think this one?-Lily and Violet are red heads like me, and they dye their hair. In one life, my parents died when I was little… and in another, they're alive… but they both ran off and left me and my sisters alone at the Gym once Daisy turned 18, and I never saw them again. OH, DAISY!" Misty suddenly jumped to her feet at that one, staring frantically at Ash "You won't BELIEVE what's happened with her!"

"What is it?! What?!" Ash said in a panic, rising to his feet as well and bracing himself for something really heavy after that last bit of information about Misty's parents.

"My sister-" Misty paused and threw up her hands for dramatic effect "… Has a BOYFRIEND!"

…

...

...

Ash and Pikachu exchanged rather unimpressed looks and turned to Misty with some bemusement.

"… That's it? I was expecting something like she's the leader of Team Rocket now with how you were talking, or at least that she was a talking duck. But that… I get it's different, but what's so weird about Daisy having a boyfriend?" Asked Ash. He was slightly unnerved by the weird, feline-grin Misty gave him in response.

"Her boyfriend…" Misty leaned forward so hers and Ash's faces were inches apart "… Is Tracey"

Ash and Pikachu immediately face planted into the ground.

Taking a good minute to recover from the shock to their systems, the two eventually pulled their heads out of the dirt and gaped at Misty.

"T-t-Tracey!? OUR Tracey?!"

Misty simply nodded.

"… How… when… why… how did that even happen?" An incredulous Ash inquired.

"She met him in Johto three years ago on a family trip to Goldenrod City" Misty began, having to stop for a moment to get all the details right in her head "He was studying urban wild Pokemon and trying to get some good sketches, and Daisy was really impressed with them so asked if he could draw her. She liked that one a lot, and asked if he could show her around town that night. I don't know how that evening went exactly, I was asleep before she got back, but the next day she gave him her number… and then a months later, she danced into our kitchen at the Gym and bragged that she had a cute new boyfriend to me and Violet"

Ash and Pikachu stared silently at Misty when she was done, their minds slowly processing all of that information.

"… Wow" Was the only response Ash could manage for a while. Pikachu just mumbled something inaudible, looking equally aghast.

Misty nodded at them "I KNOW, right?! I mean, I could maybe sorta believe it if it happened back in the time we came from, they did get along pretty well whenever Tracey came to the Gym and Daisy went out with him ONCE as thanks for fixing some stuff. But, like… dating before WE even met? How does that even happen?"

More silence.

"… So, does Tracey… live with you guys now then, or-?"

"Ha, no" Misty cut Ash off "He's still travelling around mostly doing Pokemon watcher stuff, but he comes by the Gym frequently. And I swear Daisy NEVER stops texting him when they're both awake"

Misty leaned back against the tree, suddenly laughing "It's a funny old world, ain't it?"

"… Well, at least we won't have any trouble finding Tracey again. I can give him his memories back the next time he comes to the Gym" Ash pointed out. Misty tapped her mouth thoughtfully.

"Hey, yeah, I guess you can. Ain't that convenient…" Misty said. The two of them fell silent for a minute, still feeling awkward over that sudden revelation. When Misty next looked at Ash, her eyes widened in a moment of sudden realization. Ash raised an eyebrow as she began looking him up and down, examining his body very closely, a blush gradually creeping over her cheeks. Ash felt slightly embarrassed by it.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Ash asked. Misty snapped to attention, blushing much harder and shaking her hands as she struggled to look Ash in the eye.

"I wasn't… I mean… I… you…" Misty stuttered. She stopped flailing around and took a deep breath, taking a moment to calm down. Once her cheeks had returned to their natural colour, Misty finally looked at Ash again and said "You… look your age now"

Ash blinked, staring down at his larger, more mature body.

"Oh… oh, yeah, you too… you… huh…" Ash trailed off.

He'd been so caught up in the thrill of seeing Misty again, then the fear of incurring her wrath, and then the need to explain everything to her, that up to this point Ash somehow didn't register just how much had changed about Misty's appearance.

The last time he saw her in the old timeline, back in Alola, Misty looked like she'd barely aged a day since they first went their separate ways after the Silver Conference. But now, in this timeline?

Like Ash, she was taller and her body far more mature. She was curvier and slender, but well built and with strong looking arms and legs, like a professional athlete. Which made sense, she was always physically active and a strong swimmer as long as Ash had known her.

And there was one… other noticeable difference.

_'… Wow. They're bigger than Korrina's'_

Ash's cheeks lit up in realization of where he was staring and he swiftly looked up to see Misty staring back at him with an unreadable expression. But the renewed blush on her own cheeks made it clear she was well aware of what had caught his attention.

"I… I'm sorry…" Was all Ash managed to blurt out. Misty turned away from him and covered her mouth, her expression still hard for him to read. Ash looked the other way, drooping his head in shame.

On the ground, Pikachu suddenly began laughing his head off.

"Pi, Pikachu _*Oh man, suddenly I can't WAIT to see the look on your face the next time she puts on that blue bikini*_ " Pikachu said deviously. Ash grit his teeth in frustration at that comment, trying VERY hard not to focus too much on that mental image. He didn't do a good job.

The two teens said nothing for a long time as Pikachu just continued having a good chuckle at their expense.

"Misty, I…" Ash began, only to stop when he turned his head to see Misty holding a hand up to him.

"It's… it's fine, Ash. Don't worry about it" Misty insisted. Ash's lip quivered.

"I really am-"

"It's fine, really. Let's just… what do we have to do?" Misty asked. Ash blinked at her "You said this beholder guy would set the world back to normal if you… what was it again?"

"Oh, I… I have to win a bunch of Leagues, basically" Ash replied, admittedly grateful she wasn't angry with him. Though also curious why "… And his name is the Beyonder"

"Of all the weird…" Misty threw up her arms incredulously, all awkwardness evidently behind her "Some weird guy with disco hair tears apart the universe, changes history to make all these weird changes to everyone's lives… and the way to fix everything is for you to just NOT LOSE a bunch of tournaments this time? And if you still do, he gets to own all of reality? What kind of a stupid bet is that?!"

Ash shrugged uncertainly. Misty groaned at the floor and gave Ash a serious look.

"You can win them, right?" She asked. Ash cocked his head.

"You don't think I can?"

"I think you could have definitely won a league in each region the way you were before all of this time travel stuff happened" Misty said calmly "I'll tease you sometimes, but you are a good trainer Ash. But… just… is Pikachu still as strong as when he fought Tapu Koko?"

Pikachu began pawing the ground irritably at that question, while Ash scratched his head.

"Okay, I get it. It's going to be an uphill battle, but I'll… I'll work something out" Ash sighed. Misty's expression softened.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I don't mean to be unsupportive. I believe in you. It's just… ugh" Misty hit the tree "This is all so stupid and complicated. I know you're a good trainer, Ash, but you've only ever won two Leagues counting the Orange League, and there's a lot of OTHER strong trainers with more experienced Pokemon than you have right now. It's just… I'll do whatever I can to help you through this, I promise"

"Misty… thank you" Ash nodded. Misty smiled weakly at him, straightened herself up and lightly punched the boy's shoulder.

"Alright then. Let's go grab all your old Pokemon and bust your butts with some serious training, Mr Pokemon Master!" Misty declared with a fist pump. Ash laughed at her, smiling as Pikachu leapt back up onto his shoulder and gave him an encouraging cheek nuzzle.

An uphill battle may lie ahead of them. But seeing the eager smiles on the faces of his two best friends besides him, in that moment, Ash was sure they had a chance. He would do everything in his Power as the future World's Greatest Pokemon Master to see them all through, and send the Beyonder packing.

"AIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu all jumped two feet in the air, Pikachu losing his grip on Ash's shoulder as he landed and falling to the ground, though luckily landing on his feet there. The two teens barely had time to react before a girl with green hair zoomed past them, bumping into Misty and almost knocking her off her feet in the process. A Bulbasaur bounded over Pikachu shortly after and took after her.

"RUN FOR IT!"

"Wait… Amagi?" Ash blinked.

"Amagi?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow.

"New trainer from Pallet. What was she…" Ash trailed off when he noticed Misty was staring at something behind him with a look of sheer terror on her face "… Misty?"

Cautiously, Ash turned around to see an enormous flock of Spearow approaching, screeching furiously and looking even angrier than spearow were want to. Ash took a step back and grimaced, sharing in Misty's panic.

Pikachu however had a much more reserved reaction when he spotted the swarm. Merely blinking once, cracking his neck and bounding forward.

"Pikachu. Pi _*Relax, we all know how this goes. I got this*_ " Pikachu began charging up electricity "Pi-Ka-CHU!"

Pikachu sent a sizeable bolt of lightning at the spearow flock, engulfing many of them… managing to send exactly one of them to the ground and causing half a dozen more to briefly faulter, but otherwise doing very little to slow down their approach.

Pikachu's face drooped "…Pika. PI! _*... I don't got this. RUN!*_ "

Ash and Misty wasted no time doing just that, taking off down the road in the same direction Amagi had run off to with Pikachu hot on their heels. A loud crack of thunder echoed across the fields as a sudden downpour of rain emerged from the now dark clouds above.

The angry cries of the spearow grew louder and more aggressive with each passing second, and despite the huge burst of adrenaline fueling the two teens in their panic, it was pretty obvious they weren't going to lose them anytime soon.

Doubly so when Ash noticed Amagi sprawled out on the ground not far ahead, having clearly tripped over. Ash instinctively skid to a halt and rushed to help her up, Misty also skidding to a halt a moment after just ahead of them.

"Come on!" Ash said. But no sooner than Amagi was on her feet and ready to start running again did the poor teens find themselves surrounded by a dozen Spearow each, all swiftly pecking and clawing at them in a frenzy.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

"BULBA!" Amagi's Bulbasaur shot out some vine whips to try and swat away the Spearow surrounding her, having some momentary success before itself being attacked by three of the demon birds.

Having become quite drenched from the sudden downpour of rain, Ash and Amagi threw their arms about frantically to try and swat the Spearow away, but they wouldn't relent, now tearing some sizeable holes in their clothes with their talons. Pikachu launched several more thundershocks, which seemed to have a greater effect with the shorter distance and actually knocked out a few Spearows, but more of them kept swooping in and the little yellow mouse was under attack himself, leaving him with a growing series of cuts and bruises.

"Starmie, bubblebeam!"

Ash and Amagi earned a brief respite from the incessant pecks and scratches as a stream of bubbles burst forth and struck the Spearow around them, forcing them back a bit. Ash quickly looked over to see Misty standing over Staryu and Starmie, a look of fiery determination on her face.

"Staryu, water gun!"

The smaller starfish Pokemon shot a torrent of water out at the Spearow, forcing many of them further back. Panting, Ash frantically scooped down and checked on Pikachu's condition. Behind him, Amagi let out a loud roar of frustration, picked up a large stone and threw it in the direction of the swarm.

"Leave us alone!" Amagi demanded.

The stone Amagi had thrown hit one particular Spearow right on the centre of its head, causing it to fall to the ground. The furious bird wasn't down for long and quickly took flight again, a large bump forming on its head as it glared dangerously at its assailant.

A blue light began enveloping that Spearow.

"… Woopsie…" Was all Amagi could say.

"SQWAAAAAA!" The newly evolved Fearow declared, spreading its wings menacingly. The other dozens of spearow began rapidly swarming again, this time flying in circles above the group of frightened teens and their Pokemon as the Fearow ascended further into the air.

Ash gawked at it.

_'That can't be the same one…'_

Ash clenched his fist, turning to face Amagi and Misty "That one has to be the leader! Beat it, and the others might go away!" He instructed. Amagi nodded frantically and Misty determinedly.

The Fearow let out another furious cry as it dived for Amagi, talons raised.

"Pikachu, thundershock!"

Pikachu struck the swooping Fearow head on with his lightning, causing the Pokemon to falter and miss its mark. It almost looked like it would fall to the road, but Fearow kicked off the ground at the last minute and circled back. Amagi and Ash both ducked to avoid an impalement from its large beak.

"Starmie, Staryu, swift!" Misty called out. Unfortunately, her Pokemon's attacks were blocked when the Spearow flock suddenly swooped down and began forming a barrier of themselves between Misty's Pokemon and the rest of the group. Gasping, Misty desperately called out for her Pokemon to launch more attacks, but nothing they hit the spearow with seemed enough to get them all to disperse.

On the other side of the Pokemon-made barrier, Amagi had called out for Bulbasaur to strike fearow with its vine whip while its back was turned. The attacks seemed to do mild damage, but Fearow wasn't deterred. Its wings began to glow, and the bird swatted the vines away before closing in to land a powerful wing attack on the poor grass type, seemingly knocking it out cold.

"Bulby!" Amagi wailed. Her eyes widened as Fearow made a beeline for her once more.

Acting once more on pure instinct, Ash pushed Amagi out of the way, knocking her to the ground in the process. Fearow crashed into his chest and pinned Ash to the ground, sinking it's talons into the young man's chest and glaring down at him in absolute contempt.

Ash glared back at the vicious Pokemon, though more in annoyance than anything.

"… I really hate dealing with you!"

Fearow let out a furious screech and rose its impressive beak, looking very much ready to impale its captive. Ash grit his teeth and struggled to break free, but his efforts appeared in vain as Fearow moved to strike.

That was when Pikachu leapt up onto Fearow's back and grabbed it by the neck. Fearow tried to buck him off, but Pikachu held strong and his cheeks began sparking.

"Pika! Pikachu! _*This is the THIRD time we've had to kick your ass! You better not make me do this again, or I swear to Arceus!*_ PI-KA-CHUUUUU!"

An enormous blast of lightning engulfed the area. The Spearow in the flock that weren't sent flying many yards away by it retreated immediately. An enormous flash of light followed… and when it subsided, the rain had begun to calm down. Ash, Amagi and Pikachu lay sprawled out across the road, panting heavily, while Fearow twitched on the ground, eyes turned to spirals as sparks covered its body.

Timidly, Misty, Staryu and Starmie inched closer, before the red-haired girl dashed forward to check on Ash. The boy groaned, looking up at her with a tired grin.

"Did we get 'im?"

Misty grinned "You got 'im"

"Pi! Pika! _*Good! Now let's never do this again!*_ " Pikachu declared, pumping a fist into the air. Then his arm fell limp and he let out an exhausted squeak.

Misty helped Ash to his feet, and they both went to check on Amagi, who was spaced out and just staring up into the sky.

Nearby, Fearow's eyes suddenly returned to normal and it rolled over, unsteadily getting to its feet. Fearow tried to stand up and let out another war cry, but collapsed under its own weight. With a pained groan, it began slowly hobbling away.

 _'Good riddance. That's one Pokemon even I don't want to make friends with'_ Ash thought to himself as he watched the bandit bird retreat. He looked down at Amagi and waved an aching hand in front of her face. This seemed to snap the green haired girl back to reality, and Ash and Misty began helping her up.

"… Thaaaaank you" Amagi heaved an exhausted sigh, which Ash and Misty both met with one of their own. Ash and Amagi had many bruises and minor cuts on their faces and arms, their clothes filled with holes from where the Spearow had sunk their beaks and claws into them. Misty had fared somewhat better, suffering virtually no clothing damage and only a few bad scratches.

"I'm so sorry!" Amagi began crying "I didn't mean for any of this… I just wanted to catch a spearow, and I thought I was doing it right, and then-and then suddenly they were everywhere and… I… I just…"

"It's fine" Ash put his hands on the girls shoulders "The spearow around here are just a real bunch of jerks, not your fault you didn't know that. Next time you will. Try to stick to easy stuff like Pidgey and Rattata until you've got a good team, and then you should be fine when stuff like this happens"

Amagi sobbed as a response, then suddenly winced "Bulby!" She ran to check on her Bulbasaur, who was still bruised and shaken up, but had managed to get back onto it's feet before she scooped it up into her arms.

"Are you alright?" Amagi asked gently.

"Bulba…" Her starter answered weakly, nuzzling its head against her chest. More tears filled Amagi's eyes as she looked down at her partner with a relieved smile.

"I'm so sorry I got us into that mess…" Amagi sighed, turning to face Ash and Misty again "… Ash, thank you so much for getting us out of that mess. I owe you my life. And thank you too miss… miss…"

"Misty"

"Misty, thank you" Amagi nodded, and looked downcast "… I don't think I'm ready to be a trainer yet…"

"Hey, don't be like that" Ash started "Accidents happen. I know all of that was scary, but-"

"I just..." Amagi hesitated for a moment to compose herself "… I just wanted to be a Pokemon trainer so I could make friends. I don't care too much about battling, I just want to meet a bunch of Pokemon and make friends with them. I guess I didn't think I'd meet such scary and dangerous ones right after I left town…"

Amagi circled the ground with her right foot "… I think I'm just… I'll go home now and wait a bit longer. I'll train with Bulby until it's strong, and then I guess… I'll give it another try. See how far I can get then"

"Sounds like a good plan to me" Misty said, giving Amagi an approving nod "Go at your own pace"

"I think I will. Is there anything I can do to make this up to you two?" Amagi asked. Ash shrugged non-chalantly.

"It's fine, just try to stay safe on your way home. Maybe we'll see you again sometime and we can have a battle… if you feel like it then, I mean" Ash quickly added in that last part. Amagi laughed nervously.

"I, um… I dunno, maybe… aren't you two going to come back to town? You look pretty hurt too?" Amagi said, observing their wounds.

"We'll get treated at the Pokemon Centre in Viridian City. Nurse Joys usually have a first aid kit at least ready for wounded trainers. And we really can't wait around" Misty explained as Ash went to pick up Pikachu, cradling the hero of the day gently. Amagi gave him a concerned look, which relaxed when Pikachu smiled back at her.

"Um, well… alright, I guess I shouldn't keep you…" Amagi said, petting her Bulbasaur one more time before bowing "Thank you so much! I'll, um, I'll see you again… someday… maybe… good luck!"

And with that, Amagi took off back in the direction of Pallet Town. Misty and Ash stood by and watched after her, when she was far enough away Ash let out an exhausted groan and fell on his back, Pikachu grunting in his arms as they landed. Misty rolled her eyes and laughed.

"… By the way, you're going to call Professor Oak and tell him to pick up my bike later, right? I want it fixed again, you know" Said Misty. Ash looked up at her in disbelief.

"You're going to keep bringing it up until I do, aren't you?"

"You know it" Misty quipped. Ash chuckled weakly, giving Pikachu a gentle stroke and closing his eyes, taking a moment to relax.

A moment that would be interrupted immediately.

"SHAOOOOOH!"

Ash leaned forward, Pikachu blinking in surprise and crawling up onto his head to get a better look. Misty, who had been looking around in a fright, followed Ash's upward gaze towards the sky.

The rain clouds were fading. The brilliant shine of the sun peaked out to bathe the skies in a golden radiance. And across said skies, a beautiful rainbow had spread.

And flying towards that rainbow was a beautiful, enormous, red bird Pokemon that left a rainbow trail in its wake.

"… Ho-oh…" Ash sighed, eyes sparkling as he, Misty and Pikachu stared on in silent wonder at the magnificent, Legendary Pokemon as it flew over the rainbow, disappearing into the horizon just as quickly as it had appeared.

Ash reached up and scooped Pikachu off his head, moving him gently onto his shoulder. The two best friends exchanged goofy, satisfied grins.

"… Right on cue, huh buddy"

"Uh… Ash" Ash and Pikachu turned to Misty, who was staring upwards in amazement. Confused, they followed her gaze and noticed something shining right above them. Ash blinked a few times as a small object descended, eventually falling close enough for him to reach out and grab it.

Ash held the glowing object close to his face and examined it. A feather. Red and green coloured, and radiating a rainbow-coloured aura.

There was a long moment of silence as Ash, Misty and Pikachu all gazed at the glowing feather, utterly transfixed.

"… … … Pi _*... Well…*_ " Said Pikachu "… Ka _*... That's different_ "

* * *

Fearow stopped by the river, collapsing from exhaustion. It groaned painfully.

"Well, that sure looked interesting"

Fearow's rose it's head unsteadily, looking around for the source of the noise. It spotted an approaching figure. Human. Female. About the same size as the humans it had just encountered. She was accompanied by a small turtle Pokemon.

"Honestly, I was about to get involved when you pinned that boy to the ground, but luckily Pikachu did all the work for me" The girl said, sounding quite amused.

Fearow attempted to stand up and look intimidating, but just ended up collapsing again from its injuries, not even managing a half-decent squawk.

"Now stop that. You're in no condition to fight, you silly thing… although, I guess I do need all the help I can get. And only a fool would let such a good opportunity go to waste…"

Fearow felt a sudden twinge of fear at that, but had no time for any further reaction before a pokeball made contact with the top of its head. Its body quickly devolved into a red light that got absorbed into the ball. It didn't take long for the ball to stop shaking.

"Squirtle-squirt" The girl's partner sounded quite happy as she bent down to pick up the Pokeball, admiring her face in the reflection of the ball's upper half. She had mischievous blue eyes and long brown hair. She wore a black dress, and appeared to be about sixteen years old.

"A Squirtle AND a newly evolved Fearow, all in one day" The girl smiled, looking highly satisfied "We're off to a good start"


	3. Hedgehogs and Rockets

_***Viridian** **City,** **April** **7th.** **6:08pm***_

"Step right up, folks! Get your chili dogs here, straight from Unova! You don't find food this good here in Kanto, so get 'em while you can!"

On a sidecorner of a busy street, a large metal cart covered partially by a large, yellow with red stripes umbrella had been parked. A common sight in Unova and a few other regions, hot dog stands were rarely found in most Kantonian cities. Chili dog carts even less so.

No surprise then that while a lot of passing citizens certainly gave the cart a curious glance, few of them actually bothered to buy anything. The people of Viridian City all loved their junk food, sure, but the average citizens were known for their strong sweet tooths. So any local with good business sense could have told you it was a terrible idea to open a vendor for foreign snacks just down the street from a sweet shop selling sticks of dango.

Indeed, Barney Howard, a Castelia native that had moved to Viridian recently to move in with his fiance, had been warned by said fiance that he'd probably lose money on the endeavor. That he'd be better off just focusing on finding a job in retail.

But the middle aged man with a black moustache had been selling Chili dogs for almost ten years back home, and quite enjoyed the routine of it, so had decided to give it a shot anyway. After all, he reasoned, the folks back home sure appreciated novelty, so maybe there was in fact an untapped audience for fresh hot meat here in Western Kanto.

Needless to say, the fact he'd only had three customers so far today, at least one of whom very vocally and rudely didn't like his chili dog, did not support Mr Howard's theory.

It was a bit discouraging for the squat Unovan, but he was going to keep it up for the next few days anyway. Who knows, maybe he just needed to be patient and wait for more people to give his chili dogs a try, and then he'd get a steady upstream of regular customers.

And if not, hey, that sweet shop down the road _was_ apparently hiring.

"Hmm" A well dressed, long haired brunette woman hummed, having just stopped in front of Barney's stand after getting a good whiff of some freshly cooked sausages. She gave the stand a curious look over before raising an eyebrow at the Unovan salesman.

"Chili dogs? I've never heard of them. I presume they're like hot dogs, though?" She inquired. The struggling salesman took note of the half a dozen rings with large jewels on the woman's fingers and grinned, sensing a big break.

"Yes, they're like hot dogs, but much better!" Barney Howard boasted, holding out a fully prepared chili dog on a bun in front of the woman's face "They're well cooked, plump sausages topped with a spicy meat sauce! Comes with several optional toppings including cheese, onions and mustard. A fine, filling snack, they're very popular in my home region, and people say mine were the juiciest, tastiest in all of Castelia! And lucky for you, my fair lady, I'm offering a first day discount!"

The brunette woman stroked her chin, leaning down a bit to take in the scent of the steaming Chili dog. A hungry smile crept up her lips as she leaned back and reached for her pockets "Well, I am a connoisseur of delectable meats..."

The woman glanced at the sign along the front of the stand and noticed the red circle where the standard price for each chili dog was written. She pulled out several bills of pokedollars and slammed them on the counter "I'm sold. Let me try one"

Barney Howard smirked victoriously. He gave the well dressed woman a gracious bow and held out the chili dog still sitting on a napkin in his hand "Pleasure doing business with you, ma'am. Please enjoy"

The brunette woman licked her lips and reached for the chili dog.

She was just about to grab it out of the salesman's hand when a sudden rush of wind pushed her back a few feet, making her stumble. Barney Howard was also knocked back by the unseen force, and when he recovered a few seconds later, he realized the chili dog he was holding had inexplicably vanished, replaced by a small slip of paper.

"... What... the...!" The Unovan native was too stunned to even finish that exclamation. Tepidly, he raised the piece of paper to his eyes, quickly realizing it was a note.

It read "Hey, sorry to cut in line like that, I'm in a hurry. Don't worry, I left enough to pay for mine and the nice lady's dogs. Have a good evening"

Barney reread the note several times over before the information finally sank in. With a dumbstruck expression plastered over his face, the man lowered the note to find that a small pile of yellow rings, each large enough they could serve as a child's bracelet, were now sitting on the counter of his cart.

Barney balked at the unfamiliar jewellery, scratching his head as the brunette woman recovered from her shock over the unseen force that had rushed past her and reached out to grab one of the rings, holding it up in front of her eye to closely examine it.

"... Are these... solid gold?"

As the hapless chilli dog salesman and his bemused customer pondered the strange items, many more citizens felt a strong, sudden breeze, and a few would even go on to report having seen a brief flash of blue light pass them by.

A conveniently placed security camera outside of a certain Pokemart, when having it's footage paused at exactly eighteen hundred and zero-nine hours and forty-two seconds, would reveal a strange, unidentifiable blue mass trailed by many tiny sparks of blue lightning.

But none would see the Blue-furred source of those breezes come to a sudden stop on the roof of the Police Station not too far from the southern entrance to Viridian City.

A pair of emerald-green eyes quickly examined the surrounding streets. Their owner gave a content smirk, taking a large bite out of the chili dog in his gloved hand and savouring the taste of the fresh-cooked meat as he casually plopped down to lie on his side.

This creature stood about half the size of your average adult human man, and had blue fur that covered a good portion of his body, barring an ovular patch on his stomach, his arms and a muzzle around his mouth. He wore nothing but gloves, a strange watch-like attachment on his right arm with a blank round screen and a pair of red sneakers.

His name was Sonic the Hedgehog. He was what most people referred to as a Mobian.

"Mmm-mmm! Ahh, chili dogs, my one true love. For too long have we been apart" Sonic sighed in an amorous tone, and then took another bite out of said chili dog. A loud, continuous buzzing sound then caught his attention. He instinctively glanced at the watch-like contraption on his wrist, the screen of which had begun to glow yellow, confirming his suspicion.

For a moment the anthropomorphic hedgehog looked slightly annoyed to be interrupted from his snack break, but the feeling passed as soon as it came. Sonic rapidly chewed the chilly-covered meat in his mouth and swallowed it in about 2 seconds, pressed the button on the side of the watch-thing against his chest to activate the contraption, and finally raised his arm to position the screen in front of his face.

Said screen was now showing live video footage of another Mobian looking back at Sonic. This one was a girl, a chipmunk with mostly chestnut-brown fur, but who also had shoulder-length red hair much like a human. Like Sonic she wore very little, but was somewhat more modest in that she had on a blue vest. She had a look of authority to her, yet oddly gave off an approachable aura at the same time.

"Hey Sal, how's it going" Sonic greeted the girl, who's proper name was Sally.

"I was just checking in to see if you've made any progress on either locating the chaos emerald, or finding new leads on Eggman's current whereabouts. You haven't reported back in two days" Sally replied, giving him a mild frown. Sonic looked thoughtful for a moment, realized she was right and rolled his eyes awkwardly.

"Woops, sorry. I meant to call this morning, but I got distracted. You should come with me to Mt Moon sometime, the peak of the mountain has a killer view of the landscape, you can see all the way from Pewter City to Cerulean. And the Clefairy there have this giant glowing rock that you'd probably be interested in. They gave me a smaller rock that looks just like it, if you wanted a souvenir" Sonic explained, reaching into his quills and pulling out a black, crystalline rock with his free hand and holding it close to the screen.

Sally leaned in, examining the stone closely "That's a moon stone. It's a rare stone that let's certain Pokemon, including Clefairy, evolve"

"Ooh, neat. It's magic"

"Do you really have to go sight-seeing? It's kind of important we pick up Eggman's trail, he's been far too quiet the last few months, and you know that usually means he's come up with his latest big, grand scheme" Sally said, sternly arching an eyebrow.

Sonic dropped the moon stone and waved his hand around awkwardly.

"Heh, sorry, can't help it. First time I've been to Kanto in half a decade, and there's so much I still haven't seen… but we are keeping an eye out. As soon as Tails, Amy and I find a clue where he's hiding, or we pick up the trail of another emerald, we'll let you know" Said Sonic. Sally's frown quickly changed into a smile.

"Alright then. That's all I ask for now" Sally replied. Her expression slowly grew more curious "… So, it's a great view, huh?"

"Totally" Sonic nodded "And I bet you ten rings it looks even better at sunset"

"I might be making a diplomatic visit to the Kingdom of Rota close to Christmas. If you're still in Kanto by then, I'll take you up on that offer" Sally said with an eager nod. Sonic rolled his eyes playfully.

"Like it's going to take me the whole year. You know Eggman, as soon as he gets word I'm here looking for him, he'll crawl out of whatever hole he's hiding in and try to smash me with his shiny new mech. He can't resist trying to show off how much better he thinks he is than me" Sonic said with a cocky laugh. A brief hint of an amused grin started to appear on Sally's face, but she quickly caught it and gave Sonic the most serious look she could muster.

"Eggman's ego may be the size of a planet, but he's not stupid. Whatever he's doing in Kanto-assuming he is there, we've only had scant reports of robot sightings-it has to be bad news for everyone in Knothole and the human regions alike with how long he's laid low. Don't let your guard down" Sally lectured. Sonic had a quip prepared, but thought better of it.

"We'll handle it. Don't worry" Sonic said.

"I'm sure you will. Just be sure to keep me informed… oh, wait, have either you, Tails or Amy met with the local G-men again?" Sally asked prudently.

"Not since we stopped by Indigo Plateau on the way in" Sonic shook his head.

When he and his friends first crossed the border from Johto into Kanto, they'd met up with Lance, a high ranking Government agent and the head of the Elite Four shared between the two neighbouring regions.

Lance and Sonic happened to be casual friends, having gone on a few adventures together fighting criminals in the Johto region during Sonic's occasional travels out of Knothole. They'd fought Sonic's nemesis, the evil scientist Dr Eggman together on multiple occasions as well, which would make it an ideal partnership. Especially since Lance was most at home here in Kanto.

He wouldn't be joining them at the moment though, he had explained at the time. Something about him needing to deal with a guy in Western Johto stealing a magical sceptre from a crypt and trying to raise an army of mind controlled Pokemon to take over the region, but he couldn't seem to get far past the valley where the crypt was for some reason.

It all sounded a bit dumb to Sonic.

On the upside, Lance did say he'd called in a fellow G-man from abroad to help with their investigation, so that would be helpful. He'd apparently be here in a couple of days, Tails would meet up with him in Vermilion City and Sonic would probably be there too to relay whatever information they'd gathered on Eggman at that point.

"… Are you still listening to me, Sonic?"

Sonic blinked, shaking his head and returning to the present.

"Sorry. Anyway, no word from our new suit friend yet, but I'm sure Tails will call when he shows up. Anything else?" Sonic inquired.

"I think that'll do for now. I actually have to get going. But best of luck on your mission, sorry I can't be there at the moment" Sally said, looking genuinely disappointed in herself over it. Sonic shook his head at that.

"Somebodies gotta keep Knothole safe while I'm gone, and you, Bunnie, 'Toine and the rest of the gang do a bang up job at that. Don't worry about it" Sonic insisted. Sally smiled graciously at him.

"Right" Sally nodded "Sally out"

"Later, Princess Sal" Sonic waved farewell. When the screen of his watch-communicator faded to black, he picked up the moon stone he'd previously dropped and stored it again into the depths of his quills and took another bite of the chili dog still in his right hand, now a little more than half finished with it.

About two minutes after his conversation with Sally, Sonic finished savouring the last few bites of said chili dog, and looked down the street, coincidentally spotting two teenagers passing by the police station which he was resting on top of who were soon stopped by a police woman, who looked like she was part of the Officer Jenny family he'd often run into in his travels to other regions. Apparently, they had them here in Kanto too.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. It was probably none of his business, but he couldn't resist sneaking over to the side of the building anyway and listening in.

Years of being a wandering hero had taught him that small, seemingly random interactions like this could often provide one such as himself with useful hints.

Or they could just turn out to be embarrassing conversations about some married couples troubles in the bedroom that Sonic REALLY wished he could permanently erase from his memories afterwards.

But he was probably safe with this one.

"… and how do I know you didn't steal that Pokemon? Seems pretty suspect to carry a wounded Pokemon so far outside of its pokeball" Sonic could hear the Policewoman say to the teenage boy of the duo, who upon a closer look was carrying a wounded Pikachu.

"Pikachu really hates being inside his Pokeball, so he wouldn't let me" The boy explained awkwardly. The Pikachu in his arms let out a "Kaaaaa" of agreement, sounding rather weak. While Sonic couldn't see it's face from his distance, the reactions of the trainer and the girl accompanying them afterwards before the boy cried out the poor things name suggested the Pikachu either fainted afterwards, or was on the verge of it. Sonic winced, briefly thinking he should help out before Officer Jenny beat him to the punch.

"You kids better get that poor thing to a Pokemon Center right away, then. If you want Mr…"

"Ash Ketchum"

"Ash. If you want, you can hop in the sidecar of my motorcycle and I'll take you there right away. It'll be much quicker that way" Officer Jenny explained. The boy named Ash nodded at this.

"Thank you so much, Officer Jenny"

"No worries… sorry I accused you of stealing. I'm just really on edge at the moment, we've had reports recently of three thieves operating in the area" Officer Jenny said.

"Thieves?" The red haired girl questioned. Sonic was curious about her tone, she didn't sound very surprised at all.

"Yes. We think they're a certain trio of Team Rocket members who've been reported to travel around in a hot air balloon shaped like a Meowths head. I don't know too much about these particular crooks myself, but they're from Team Rocket so they must be very dangerous. Don't worry too much about it right now though, I've got my whole squad on look out for them" When Officer Jenny was done with her exposition, she and Ash hopped in her motorcycle and took off, the red-haired friend of the latter promising to catch up shortly.

Sonic watched the police officer and the unlucky trainer take off, humming curiously as he stood up and pondered what he'd heard.

"Team Rocket, aye?" At that moment, Sonic looked upward. In the distance, he saw a strange object in the sky. Something shaped suspiciously like the head of the cat Pokemon called Meowth.

Sonic rubbed the underside of his nose "Well, I suppose someone better get on that".

Taking a few steps backwards, Sonic did a running leap, bounding right across the street onto another rooftop. The blue hedgehog repeated this process, determined to get a closer look at the hot air balloon and get a sense of what direction it was drifting in.

* * *

_***Solaceon** **Town,** **3.25pm** **Eastern** **Sinnoh** **Time**_

**Outside the Pokemon Daycare Centre***

"Shinx, use Quick attack!"

"Use Iron Defense!"

Aron's body flashed a moment before Shinx's side made contact with its head. Its feet sunk into the ground as it slid back a few inches, but the determined steel-type was otherwise undeterred by the attack, responding by throwing its head up quickly to push Shinx off of itself. As Shinx flipped back and found his footing again, Aron stamped a foot and stood tall.

"Aron!" The tiny steel type declared with pride.

Angie snapped her fingers approvingly, a satisfied grin forming on her face.

"Alright! You're finally getting the hang of it"

As Pokemon daycare workers, her parents' primary job was looking after and training Pokemon left in their care by trainers. Typically it was because a lot of trainers, rookies primarily but not always, had a tendency to catch too many Pokemon to adequately raise them all up into battle ready condition for major tournaments like Leagues, contests, etc, but still wanted a good supply of strong reserves ready to fall back on.

There were other reasons Pokemon were left in their care, of course. Sometimes trainers got sick and weren't able to keep up their regular training routines, so needed someone to fill in and perform those duties during their recovery.

On rare occasion, chronically ill trainers would end up leaving their Pokemon at Daycare services permanently after determining they were unfit to raise them and had no relatives willing to take on the task. Or worse, a trainer would pass away, leaving the Daycare workers stuck with their Pokemon. In such cases, The Daycare Workers would typically try to rehome the Pokemon. Angie had only seen something like this happen about 3 times at her parents' Daycare though, fortunately.

In this timeline, anyway. She couldn't remember if that ever happened in the old one.  
Another common occurrence however was that people who simply kept Pokemon as pets or were otherwise retired from professional Pokemon battling would leave their Pokemon at the Daycare while on Vacation or visiting relatives. This happened quite a lot with Solaceon Town's residents, as the quaint little town wasn't known for its high output of strong trainers.

The Aron her dad was currently commanding to spar with Shinx had actually been a regular in that regard until just three weeks ago, when it's owner, 36 year old Mr Jenkins, decided his accounting job was simply too mind-numbingly boring for him to tolerate any longer and he was going to buck the local trends, go out into the world and put some respect on Solaceon's name in the world of competitive battling by making it at least past the preliminary rounds in the next Lily of the Valley Conference on his first try, something that only two other people in the town's history had ever managed to do even once.

Mr Jenkins' wife had been perhaps understandably annoyed by the abruptness of all this, but Angie had still offered the old family friend her enthusiastic support in his endeavour.

Too bad he had to trip up in the middle of the street and get his foot run over.

Not that it deterred him from his newfound trainer aspirations, and he had requested his wife drop off Aron at the Daycare Centre so Angie's family could help toughen it up a bit, ready for whenever the Doctor informed him he'd be able to walk again. Beyond simply training to boost its strength and endurance, Mr Jenkins also specified that he wanted them to teach Aron Iron Defence in place of harden, since he'd heard it was a more useful technique.

Which led to their current circumstances. Two and a half weeks of endurance training and two daily half-hour long sparring sessions with Angie's Shinx later, and Aron had finally managed to successfully boost its defence so that it wouldn't be sent rolling backwards by Shinx's attacks. Angie was both relieved and proud of herself for this outcome, eager to see the look on Mr Jenkins' face when they told him the good news.

... or not, she'd probably be in Kanto by the time Aron was returned to him. Ah well.

"Very impressive, Aron" Angie's father offered the steel-type some encouragement, which it raised its head quite smugly at, prompting her father to add "But try not to get cocky" Then he turned to address Angie "We'll try two more times, and then pick it up this evening before bed. Have to make sure that wasn't a fluke and Aron's actually got the move down"

"Okay dad. Shinx, into position" Angie instructed. Sphinx nodded in understanding and sprinted backwards, stopping three yards away from where Aron was standing and assuming a crouching position that would help give the cub Pokemon a good running start "Ready, Aron?"

Aron responded with a confident nod, prompting Angie to once more command Sphinx to use quick attack on it. Unfortunately this time around, Aron's attempt to boost its defence faltered half way through and the glow subsided near instantaneously. It still had a defence boost from its previous attempt so the impact of Shinx's quick attack didn't send it back too far, but Aron's surprise failure still caused the mon to drop its guard and be knocked on its back.

It managed to get the move right again on its last try, however, so that was something.

"Ok Aron, that'll do for now. You could use a good rest, we'll pick up again later" Angie's father said, returning Aron to its Pokeball. He walked over to his daughter, who was giving her Shinx some appreciative head pats that he was very much enjoying.

"Well, it might take a few more tries before Aron can properly master it. But this was still a tremendous break through that we've been waiting for. Thanks for your help"

"No problem, dad" Angie replied, now having moved on to scratching Shinx behind his ears "You love training with Pokemon your own size, don't you Shinx. And hey, maybe when you're a Luxray and Mr Jenkins gets Aron to evolve into an Aggron, you two can have a real battle. Bet'cha we'll win!"

Angie's father smiled and chuckled lightly at his daughter's confidence "I think Jenkins would demand a refund if that happened… okay, thanks for the help. Since it's a Saturday you can have the afternoon off. Though might I still ask if you could stop by the Pokemart later and pick up an order of super potions and full heals-after that Internet friend of your calls, I mean"

"Oh, sure thing. I was going to stop there anyway for, uh… stuff" Angie said. Luckily her father didn't question her on that, so she'd just leave out for now that she was probably going to buy some potions and other supplies for when she got to Kanto.

"Right" Angie's dad nodded, looking thoughtful for a second "Convenient that you have a friend in Kanto that's going to be stopping by Winry's farm, though. I don't remember you ever mentioning a boy named… uh, Dash was it?"

"Ash, dad, no D. And you never ask me about my online friends" Angie said, trying not to sound too hasty.

"Right, right. I respect your privacy and all that" Her dad replied, scratching his head sheepishly. For a moment he started to look apprehensive, which made Angie nervous.

"… He's, um… not your boyfriend, is he?"

Shinx gave a yelp as Angie unintentionally pushed his head into the ground in her shock.

"NO! He's not!" Angie yelled, cheeks flushing scarlet.

"Phew, thank goodness" Her father sighed. Angie actually stopped blushing to gape at him over that. Thank goodness? In the old timeline, her dad never seemed to have any issues with her and boys. In fact, he once suggested right after meeting Ash that she should marry him and they could take over the Daycare together.

So what was he getting at here? Maybe she was missing some context, she'd had a bunch of memories of this current version of her life surface since getting out of bed this morning, but nothing that explained why her father would be opposed to her dating.

He seemed to sense her confusion, as he quickly amended "Oh, um… don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with you having a boyfriend. I'm NOT that kind of dad. It's… it's just, uh…"

"Just… what?" Angie asked suspiciously, putting her hands on her hips and giving her father a prying look. He chuckled nervously, avoiding eye contact for a moment and seeming to think hard about his response.

"… Okay, I might as well just ask… are you a lesbian, Angie?"

Angie blinked, falling silent for a long moment.

That… was not a question she expected to be asked today.

"… Uh. No" Angie said slowly. And to her continued befuddlement, her father actually facepalmed in response.

"Ah, dang it! Now I owe your mother three hundred poke dollars! Oh, she'll be smug about that, ha ha"

At that response Shinx actually shot to his feet again to stare at the man with an expression on his face that looked only half as flabbergasted as his trainer was feeling right now.

"Wait, wha-what the-why? Why do you owe mom money?!" Angie demanded. Her father looked away sheepishly again.

"Oh, uh… well, you see, your mother and I noticed you never seemed that interested in any of the boys your age, either in Solaceon or the boys passing through… so, one day I suggested that maybe you might be more into girls, but weren't out about it. Your mother didn't agree, and said it's probably just that none of them struck your fancy… so, just for fun, I made a bet with her over whether you'd come out to us by the time you were eighteen… You don't mind, right?"

Angie's face currently bore a striking resemblance to a tomato berry.

"YES! I MIND!" Angie screamed, frantically throwing her arms around in an embarrassed frenzy "What the heck, dad!? What kind of people go around making bets on what their daughters' preferences are?!"

Angie's father tapped his index fingers together nervously "Ha ha… I dunno, it's just, uh-"

"Why'd you even think me not wanting to date makes me a lesbian anyway?! What, is it my hair or something?!"

"No, it's not that… although, I dunno, I probably do have some weird preconceptions" The man mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Snapping out of his thoughts and seeing his daughter still blushing at him he shook his hands and added "We'd totally do our best to support you if you WERE a lesbian, of course, or anything else"

"Well, nice that you're progressive! But no need to strain yourself, 'cause I'm pretty sure I'm just straight!" Angie yelled, throwing her arms up in the air.

Her father clapped his hands together "Alright then, Glad we got that all cleared up then. Good talk" He said in the most forced attempt at a casual tone possible.

Still quite red, Angie put a hand to her forehead and began rubbing her temples.  
Suddenly, she thought it might not be so bad if reality reset itself again.

Awkwardly waving her father a quick goodbye, Angie took off for the house before her dad could say anything else embarrassing. She waited until Shinx caught up and ran inside before closing the door behind her.

Noticing his owner's aggravation, Shinx leapt up into Angie's arms and began nuzzling his face into her neck. It worked to calm Angie down a bit, and she let out a low sigh as she started petting him again.

"Sometimes it feels like the real bet mom and dad have going on is over who can do the best job at embarrassing me" She told Shinx.

"RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!"

Angie's lingering sense of embarrassment started to fade as she rushed into the living room, put Shinx down gently on the sofa, and made to answer the video phone. She let out a huge sigh of relief at whose face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, hi Ash. You called at just the right time, honestly. I just-WHOA!" Angie did a double take when she saw the state Ash was in, clothes somewhat singed and full of holes, several bandages on his face and generally looking a bit dishevelled "… Cripes, Ash, what happened to you?! Did you try to fight a Drapion by yourself or something?"

"No, that's not it" Ash said, shaking his head "… Don't think I've done that since the last time I was on Hunter J's ship"

"Hunter… J…" Angie looked blankly at the screen, going silent for a moment. Was he talking about that infamous Pokemon hunter that died at Lake Valor a couple years back in their timeline? "… Okay, that's another thing you're gonna have to explain to me. But, that can wait at least"

"Uh, right. I guess my life does sound kinda weird to most people" Ash admitted, casually scratching the back of his head.

"That's putting it mildly" Angie rolled her eyes sarcastically "… So, what did happen?"

"We got attacked by a flock of Spearow on the way to Viridian City. Pikachu's being treated by nurse Joy, but he should be pretty fine soon. Honestly, this happened the last time too" Ash said, shaking his head "… At least it wasn't because I threw a rock at one this time"

"Wait, you did that? What did you think was going to happen?" Angie asked incredulously. Ash frowned.

"There was only one at the time. How was I supposed to know a whole flock was nearby?!" Ash yelled defensively. Angie couldn't help but laugh.

"You didn't really change too much between Pallet Town and Sinnoh, did you?" Angie egged him on. Ash sighed.

"I did" Ash grumbled. Angie giggled a bit and then looked seriously at the screen again.

"Ok, snark aside… are you really alright Ash?"

"Ah, I'm fine. Really, this is nothing, I actually died at least one time" Ash waved her off. Upon noticing the mix of bafflement and horror on Angie's face he meekly added "I… got better"

"Yeah… you sure did" Angie nodded slowly. For a moment she pondered whether or not he was telling the truth, or pulling her leg. After last night, basically anything sounded plausible to her now.

"… Are you alright though?" Ash suddenly asked. Angie blinked out of her stupor and smiled nervously back at his inquiring face on the phone screen.

"Oh, uh… yeah, peachy. Everything's going fine here" Angie said with a strained smile. Ash didn't look like he was buying it.

"… Are you… how're you coping with the… changes?" Ash asked. Angie actually had to think about that one for a moment.

"… Alright, I guess" The tomboy sighed, rubbing her head "I mean… everything SEEMS more or less normal, except Shinx not being a Luxio anymore. I've got a bunch of new memories that feel very real and like I actually lived them, and I don't know how to feel about that… but nothing too unusual so far, so… I dunno, that's fine. It's more just trying to wrap my head around the fact I actually met Arceus and he's sending us on this weird time travel quest I'm still having a hard time making sense of"

"Huh, funny. That's the part that seems the least weird to me" Ash said curiously "… You'll probably get used to this kinda thing if we're going to be travelling together"

"Oh, well, that's nice" Angie laughed mirthlessly. After a moment of thought she continued "… I dunno, I guess I am doing okay. About as well as can be expected… although maybe the fact I'm this okay after finding out the entire universe got rebooted is a cause for concern itself"

Ash shrugged casually

"I don't know, you seem fine to me, so I'd just say don't think too much about anything but what we need to get done to save the world for the minute. That's what I'm doing" Ash said. Angie waved her hand half-heartedly "We're, um, meeting you at your Aunt's daycare, right?"

"Hmm?" Angie looked questionably at the screen for a second until realization hit her "Oh-Yeah! Yeah, Aunt Winry and my uncles' Daycare. That's South of Cerulean, remember, just keep going in a straight line down the road from the Southern gate and you'll get there in a few hours. Simple, right?"

"Should be…" Ash hesitated "… Although, Brock, Misty and I did have a talent for getting lost, so… don't be surprised if we're late"

Angie rolled her eyes playfully "Okay then, in that case, you got a Pokegear or a phone or something"

"Professor Oak gave me a Pokegear" Ash said, pulling out said device.

"Good. Now try typing out my number and try saving it. Then call me and I'll save yours" Angie instructed. Ash did as he was told, and two minutes later they had successfully exchanged contact details "Good, now when you get to Cerulean City, you can call me and I'll come meet you there. That should make things easier… Oh, and, uh… sorry if that cost you a lot of credit, international call and all. Maybe I should have just saved yours normally"

Ash actually looked suddenly thoughtful at that comment "… Come to think of it, I don't know how I'm paying for calls, Professor Oak just gave this to me. Maybe it's billed to him?"

"Probably a good idea to check…" Angie deadpanned. Ash chuckled nervously.

"Good thing I was going to call him next, then" Ash said, grinning a wide and goofy grin like only he could. Angie suddenly felt her heart flutter, but luckily managed to compose herself a lot quicker than the last few times that had happened in Vermilion City, and her brief blush faded before Ash seemed to notice.

"Yeah, okay, so we know where we're meeting up. I'll be leaving in about two days. I'll call you on the pokegear next time before I leave, and you can tell me all about what you've been up to. Speaking of, what HAVE you been doing so far?" Angie inquired.

"Oh. Well, I got to meet Pikachu again. Professor Oak remembers everything about our world, and he's going to be helping us out. I made a list of people I want to remind, I'm still working on that. And I met Misty again and she's going to travel with us… she's not here right now, Officer Jenny offered me a ride to the Pokemon Center to get Pikachu treated, and she said she'd catch up"

"Ok… and who's Misty again?"

"She's one of my friends I was telling you about before. The Cerulean Gym Leader, remember? She was my first friend that I started travelling with" Ash answered. Angie nodded in understanding.

"Oh, right, you did mention her. Guess I'll get to meet her soon. And Brock… yeah, Brock, that'll be nice" Angie hummed for a moment "… When do we meet Dawn again?"

"Sinnoh. Might take us a while" Said Ash. Angie let out a quiet "Aww" at that "… did you tell your parents we'll be travelling together yet?"

Angie stared blankly at the video screen in response.

"… I'll take that as a no?"

"I was… going to…" Angie groaned "I'll sort that out later. It just feels so awkward… even when I got my trainer license, I never really said I was going on a Journey anytime soon. I'm pretty sure they just expect me to hang around and work at the daycare centre with them forever. How am I supposed to explain to them that out of the blue I'm going off to some far off region to go on an adventure for a couple of years with a boy they've never heard of until today?! Explain it to me Ash, 'cause I'm drawing a blank!"

"Hey, don't worry… I'm not one to judge" Ash admitted, scratching his cheek "… But, you are still going to come, right"

"They can't legally stop me now I'm sixteen" Angie sighed bitterly "I'll definitely still go with you. We're in this together, and I can't just FORGET everything that just happened to us and what could happen to the world if we don't get you to win this whole weird bet… but man, I wish I could think of a way to do this that's not going to be awkward"

"I feel ya. Good luck with that" Ash said sympathetically. He watched as Angie sighed again, looking frustrated.

Shinx suddenly wandered over to Angie's side and started rubbing against her leg. Angie smiled appreciatively and leaned down to pet him. No matter the timeline, Shinx always knew when Angie needed some quick cheering up, and she loved him for that.

"… You sure you're alright, Angie?" Ash asked.

"I'll be fine" Angie nodded, looking at the video screen and smiling softly "… You know, it's funny. Every now and again for the past three years, I kept thinking about you, and what sort of neat adventures you might be on… when we met again in Vermilion City, and you told me about the stuff you'd been up to, and it sounded even wilder and way more fun than anything I could have imagined…"

Angie trailed off for a moment, staring up at the ceiling contemplatively "… I'll be honest. I kinda envied you. I love working here at the ranch, helping my parents run the Daycare. Looking after Pokemon and helping them grow strong, getting to help people and Pokemon… I like it. I'm pretty sure it's what I want to do with my life. Or at least, I never complained it's probably what I was going to grow up to be doing because my parents want me to take over"

"But like… I always thought it would be so cool to get out and see the world too. It's why I loved going to Professor Rowan's Summer Camp every year. I just wasn't sure I had the guts to just get up and leave… and hearing about all the fun stuff you've been doing… I really wanted to travel with you, Ash" Angie stood up and smiled at the boy's face on the video screen "I really wished I could go on a journey with you too"

Then Angie abruptly put her hands on her head and looked disgruntled "Just… why'd the whole freaking world have to go and end to make that happen?!"

Ash chuckled nervously at that. When it looked like Angie started to calm down again, he smiled appreciatively and said "You know, Angie… I would have liked to go on a Journey with you too before all this"

Angie's cheeks lit up. She gave Ash a wide eyed look "R-really?"

"Yeah" Ash nodded "You're a great friend. And I always thought I'd like to meet you again and get to know you a little more. And as much as I know this is all really crazy and stuff… I guess I am kinda glad too that can happen. Serious and frustrating as this all is… it can still be a fun adventure if you want it to be, right?"

Angie put her hands on her cheeks, desperate to hide the larger blush she was sure had appeared on her face after hearing that. She could feel her heart pounding.

 _'Damn it, Ash Ketchum!'_ Angie mentally wailed, struggling to keep her composure as Ash's gaze suddenly turned to one of concern '… _Why do you have to be so dang nice!?'_

"Is something wrong? You look a little spacey there?"

"I'M FINE!" Angie declared to the heavens. Her pupils dilated in shock when she realized what she'd done and she shook her head wildly to try and recover from her stupor as fast as possible "I'm… fine… it's just… stress! I'm stressed! But I'm good now, mostly. What you said… that really helps. Thank you, Ash…"

Angie mused that it was lucky that Ash was as dense as he was nice, as he seemed to nod along and buy that explanation at face value.

"Yeah… honestly, take all the time you need to calm down about all this" Ash told her.

Angie smiled, thankful to the change of subject. She looked down and noticed Shinx was suddenly laughing and shooting her a cheeky grin. Angie frowned at him, knowing it had to be at her expense.

Ash and Angie hesitated after that, both thinking over what other important matters they might want to discuss further, when suddenly Angie heard the front door close, her mother casually entering the living room soon after. Angie quickly turned nervous.

"Oh, hi hon, how's… oh" Angie's mom stopped, noticing the video phone was on "… Ah, you must be that boy Ash Angie was telling me about earlier. She had a lot of nice things to say about… oh my goodness! My dear, what happened to you!? You look like you've been mugged!"

"Actually, it was a flock of Spearow" Ash responded, looking like he was mentally sighing at the memory "A girl I know got attacked by them, so Pikachu and I had to chase them off. They didn't appreciate that"

"Well, that's very brave of you, dear" Angie's mom nodded approvingly. Angie laughed loudly.

"Ha ha, yeah, that's Ash for you. Total hero type, always saving girls in trouble. Real heartthrob!"

"What's a heartthrob?" Ash asked, genuinely confused. Angie grimaced, laughing even louder.

"Aha… oh, it's nothing Ash. Anyway, great talking to you. Call me again tomorrow, bye!" Angie declared, slamming the button to turn off the phone.

"Wait-!" Ash's voice was cut off.

Angie's mother stared blankly at the blackening phone screen, turning to her daughter with an initially uncertain glance that quickly morphed into an amused smirk.

"… Don't want your mom listening in to your private conversations? You could have just asked, and I'd have gone outside until you were done" She said with a laugh. Angie let out a low sigh.

"It's… fine. We said everything we needed to for the moment… I think…" Angie wasn't actually too certain, feeling sudden regret. It didn't last, as she reminded herself if anything else came to mind she'd just pick up the conversation tomorrow.

"Alright then. He seemed nice" Angie's mom said nicely. But then her lips spread into a teasing smirk "… Kinda cute, too. Don't you think?"

Angie glared at her mother, a vein briefly popping up on her head.

"Dad already told me about the bet you two had going on. So just know that if you make things any more embarrassing for me right now, I'll make you suffer the full brunt of the worst case of teenage rebellion you've ever seen"

Angie's mother rolled her eyes, whistling innocently as she began slowly inching towards the kitchen.

"Oh, I wasn't saying anything, dear" She said innocently. Angie sighed with relief, glad to see that pass… but… "Not like I ever even agreed to that silly bet, anyway. So if you are a lesbian, tell your dad I owe him no money"

"I'm not a lesbian" Angie said plainly.

"Darn! Now I'm the one not getting paid"

"MOM!"

"Ha ha, sorry!"

* * *

_***Viridian** **City** **Pokemon** **Centre,** **6.40pm** **Kanto** **time***_

Ash blinked as the phone screen went black.

"Huh… wonder what got into her?" Ash scratched his head. There was more he would have liked to talk to Angie about… but, at least he knew she was doing alright. And he'd meet up with her again soon, so it went well enough he supposed.

Though he still wondered what a heartthrob was. He'd have to ask Misty or Brock later, they probably knew.

Ash hummed thoughtfully, considering whether to call Professor Oak next or his mother. But that decision ended up being made for him when the seemingly universal "RING RING RING! PHONE CALL!" ringtone echoed out from the front desk of the Pokemon Center.

Suddenly recalling something from the first time he'd visited this Center, Ash rushed over to answer the call, his eyes becoming fixed on a mural on the wall that showed four different coloured stone carvings of the Legendary Birds, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, and for some reason… an Arcanine, he assumed? That square of the mural quickly was replaced with a video screen showing footage of Professor Oak in his laboratory. Video monitor Oak waved at Ash.

"Ah, Ash, thank goodness. Sorry for calling ahead, I couldn't wait any longer so I just took a chance you were already at the Pokemon Center. Everything alright…?" Professor Oak trailed off for a moment after finally registering Ash's tattered appearance "… Was it the Spearow flock, again?"

"Yes" Ash sighed "Did you see Amagi passing through? She got attacked too"

"Amagi? Why, yes, I think I saw her wandering back into town briefly through the window a little while ago. Wasn't really paying attention" Oak said, scratching his chin. Ash nodded in relief that she'd at least made it back to Pallet alright afterwards.

"Pikachu's not on your shoulder, so I assume it's being treated?"

"Yeah. I really wish he didn't have to get hurt again, but Nurse Joy said he should be fine. Oh, Misty's on her way to the center too, she remembers everything now-and I just called Angie, we'll meet up with her soon enough" Ash explained, Oak nodding along approvingly "So, I guess next I need to go find Pidgeot and Butterfree… oh wait, I guess they'd be a Caterpie and Pidgeotto again…"

Ash paused, drifting off for a moment as a sudden wave of nostalgia washed over him. It hadn't really hit him until the words left his mouth, but… he'd really get to see Pidgeot and Butterfree again. His first two Pokemon he'd ever caught, and two of the first he'd ever had to release, something that still made his heart ache slightly whenever he thought about it, and how long it had been since last he'd seen either of them.

Was it wrong that he was getting really excited about that, knowing the circumstances that caused such a reunion to become possible?

A loud cough snapped Ash out of his stupor and returned his attention to the screen in front of him.

"I hope you make good use of their company. I'm sure they'll be thrilled too" The Professor said kindly, earning an eager grin from Ash "And then you're going to meet up with Brock, I assume… so, is your plan for the moment really just to retrace your old steps from your previous journey?"

"Yeah, that's… that's all I got for the moment" Ash admitted, shrugging awkwardly "Well, that and reminding all those people on the list... I don't know what I'm going to do about Team Rocket, though"

"The Trio or the wider Crime syndicate?" Oak asked.

"The whole thing" Ash said, thinking back to the Hall of Origin "The Beyonder says that I have to beat all the Villain Teams, including Team Rocket. And I'm supposed to do that before I challenge the Indigo League again this time, or we lose... but how am I supposed to take them all on? I've fought people from Team Rocket before and we usually beat them in the end, but after six years they were all still running around. I don't even know where their base is"

"Hmm… I see what you mean, this could be troublesome. And we have less than a year to do it" Professor Oak stroked his head, grimacing "… Hmm… I guess I'll have to get Lance on board as fast as possible and start working on that. OH! Jessie and James, you're going to meet them very soon, right!? Perfect, let's catch them and interrogate them for the location of their headquarters!"

"I don't think they'd just tell us that. They're annoying and bad, but Jessie, James and Meowth always did seem pretty loyal" Ash said, thinking hard. He actually did have a plan there. An inkling of one… a crazy idea, more like it… a really stupid idea, probably, but… it just might work?

He'd try, anyway "… I'll sort that out later, and we can talk about what we're going to do about Team Rocket the next time we meet up. But, yeah, if you could help me meet Lance sooner that would be great"

"Right, right" Oak said, still grimacing "… Course I'm not going to be the one to explain to your mother that we're plotting to overthrow a gang of dangerous super criminals-"

"I'll get to that!" Ash yelled. The faintest hint of an amused smirk flashed on the Professor's face at that reaction, but his serious expression remained firm.

"You better train very hard if we are going after Team Rocket, though. It's not going… to be…" Professor Oak trailed off, eyes widening as it appeared he had had an epiphany. He slammed his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned right into the screen "THE VIRIDIAN GYM!"

Ash jumped back in shock at the sudden rise in volume "The… what?"

"GIOVANNI IS THE GYM LEADER!" Professor Oak screamed, looking like he'd just won the lottery "He was the Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym for years, until abruptly stepping down a few years ago. And then later Cynthia blew his cover to the world as the leader of Team Rocket after that whole business in Unova where you fought him! He should still be the gym leader now! We have a lead!"

Ash blinked, processing that information. That certainly added some context to his long standing question of why Jessie and James of all people were filling in for the Viridian City Gym leader when he challenged the place. He wondered why he'd never put two and two together.

"Okay, so we know where he is… but what do we do about it?" Ash asked, and professor Oak abruptly deflated and withdrew from the screen, leaning back in his chair.

"… Oh, right. We're going to need proof before we can do anything with that information" Professor Oak sighed "Hmm… well, at least we can get Lance or Looker to look into that, whoever we get in touch with first… erm… I'll form a plan of action and get back to you on that, Ash. But at least we know where to look"

"Yeah, that's good" Ash agreed. He silently wondered what this would mean about his 8th Gym battle though. Would he have to try and apprehend the leader of Team Rocket after battling him at the Viridian Gym this time? Or would he just have to fight the Trio again? Or would he have to go to a different Gym if they'd somehow brought Team Rocket down by that point?

He'd have to worry about that another time though, as Professor Oak began speaking again "Well… at any rate, Ash, do you have an email address?"

"Huh?"

"An email address. Unfortunately, that Pokegear I gave you is a bit of an old model and doesn't have internet access, but I thought I might still send you some articles with important information about this world and some of the oddities and differences from our old timeline that you could read through at Pokemon Center PC's whenever you're not training or travelling. You know, just stuff that might be in some way vaguely useful to you" Professor Oak explained.

"Oh… yeah, okay, that might help… um…" Ash thought very hard. He certainly did have an email address in the old timeline, but he hadn't had it when he left home so he couldn't be sure it existed in this world. He supposed it would be simple enough to create a new one, at any rate.

"… I'll check and let you know, Professor"

"Good. That should save me the trouble of too many exposition dumps" Said the Professor. Ash then pulled out his Pokegear and contemplated it for a moment.

"Oh, yeah… speaking of this pokegear… do I have to pay for calls I'm gonna make with it somehow?" Ash asked, recalling his earlier exchange with Angie. Oak waved his hand non-chalantly.

"Oh, don't worry about that Ash, I'll handle the billing for that. Just don't go calling people every two minutes and it should be fine. We can talk about you paying me back when you get back to Pallet Town"

"Oh, alright then. Thanks a lot, Professor" Said Ash. Professor Oak gave a curt nod and hummed thoughtfully for a moment. He snapped his fingers, looking seriously at Ash again.

"Oh, right, can't forget… you know earlier, when I was listing off some of the things that are different about this world compared to our old one?" Oak asked. Ash nodded, and the old man narrowed his eyes. He looked carefully behind Ash for a moment before asking "Is there anyone else in the lobby right now?"

"No" Ash replied, slightly anxious he was about to get another major bombshell dropped on him.

"Ok, good… do you remember I mentioned something called the Digital World?" Asked the Professor. He pursed his lips at Ash's nod of confirmation "You, um… haven't brought that up to anyone, have you? Or said the world "Digimon" in front of anyone?"

"No. Honestly, I've had too much else on my mind to think too much about that stuff" Ash answered honestly, staring oddly at the Professor as he let out an enormous sigh of relief.

"Oh thank goodness…" Oak said, quickly narrowing his eyes at Ash again "Alright then… I need you to promise me you'll never bring up that information to anyone else! Understand?"

"Um… sure, but why?"

"Because I'm not supposed to have told you" Professor Oak grumbled, massaging his temples and looking frustrated with himself "The Digital World and everything related to it is actually something that the government wants to keep under wraps until more is known about it other than the fact it exists. Only high level politicians, the G-men and respected members of the scientific community such as myself and the other professors are privy to it. I could get in big trouble if it got out I told you about it without good reason… I wouldn't have normally, but with everything else on my mind I just blurted it out along with a bunch of other things I thought might be significant alterations and forgot it wasn't public knowledge"

"Oh… I see" Ash gulped. He gave the old man a reassuring smile "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone"

"Thank you" Professor Oak sighed. He put on an amused smirk and shook his head "Honestly, the Digital World might never come up as anything you need to worry about, but maybe it is best you at least know it's a thing that exists. Knowing you and your habit for randomly stumbling into all manner of rare phenomenon including basically every legendary Pokemon native to each region, I won't be surprised at all if you wound up there somehow"

Ash couldn't deny the professor was probably right on the money about that. And Ash had to admit to himself, a part of him was very curious about the idea of another dimension full of creatures that were Pokemon, but also kinda not. He had nothing to go on as to what Digimon were like, so he imagined that maybe they were something like Ultra Beasts, bizarre creatures that looked nothing like most Pokemon… though outside of that one Naganadel, none of the Ultra Beasts he encountered could talk, and she could only do so through telepathy.

So, maybe Digimon were more along the lines of Meowth?

Maybe he'd get a chance to find out someday. At least, Ash kinda hoped he had a chance before the world got back to normal and it probably became a million times less likely that Digimon would ever be a thing in his normal reality.

But he'd probably have to put those thoughts on the back burner for now, because the Professor was looking grim again.

"So, then..." The Professor hesitated, giving Ash a serious glare "... Who do you suppose this... Champion of Evil is?"

Ash grit his teeth, his gaze lowering to the ground as he pondered that question. Of all the things that had been said to Ash in the Hall of Origin, the Beyonder sending some unknown villain to try and kill him or at least stop him from winning the bet was the one thing that kept getting pushed to the back of his mind. Perhaps unwisely.

"I don't know" Ash answered honestly. He looked up at the Professor's worried face on the video screen "... Do you?"

"I can't say I have a prime suspect just yet" Professor Oak shook his head, heaving a frustrated sigh "My first bet would be that it's Giovanni, or someone from the other villain teams... but that might be too predictable, and since we have to deal with them anyway that dimensional freak would probably want someone different"

Professor Oak leaned back in his chair, straining his face as he carefully weighed the options "... Honestly, there are so many villains you've fought over the years, and plenty more criminals in the world... it could be any of them. Not to mention we're clearly dealing with villains from other realities now, so this "Champion" could be anyone"

Now there was a truly horrifying prospect, Ash mused to himself. It was enough trouble dealing with Jessie, James and Meowth's antics... he REALLY didn't fancy having a stalker that was actually ready to MURDER him at any time.

It's not like he didn't have a long list of enemies like that already: Hunter J, The Iron Masked Marauder... Ash had a lot of potentially deadly foes he wouldn't like to meet again if he could have helped it.

But at least he could probably prepare for them. At the very least Ash had ideas for where and roughly when he was likely to run into those villains... but having whole other worlds of bad guys he couldn't anticipate...

Ash wasn't too scared. He'd overcome every menacing villain he'd faced in the past eventually, he was sure whoever the Beyonder picked as his new arch rival couldn't be THAT much worse than J, or Lysandre, or Cyrus.

But the uncertainty of it all did bother him. He was separated from most of his old Pokemon and his friends, and none of them were in a position to perform to the best of their abilities right now wherever they were. How much time was he going to have to even his odds before he had to deal with this Champion?

There was a long, uncomfortable moment of silence between Ash and the Professor before Oak finally let out a loud, angry groan.

"Look, Ash" The Professor said in the most serious, commanding tone possible "I don't know what to tell you about this particular problem until we actually have an idea of just what we're up against, other than to be very, VERY careful and vigilant wherever you go. Maybe Arceus would know more about this mystery villain and can help us prepare, but be on guard at all times!"

Ash clenched his fists and nodded at the Professor "I will"

Wait for Arceus... yeah, that sounded about right. There wasn't really much they COULD do without a clue to who besides Ash's old rogues gallery they might have to deal with, other than for Ash to hurry up and gather his old Pokemon and train them to be ready for anything.

He and his friends would have to be careful... but he was already anticipating having to fight a lot of dangerous bad guys. So maybe it was better to just put that particular problem on the back burner until he'd won a couple of badges or something.

If there was one thing Ash had learned from his many league losses after all, it was that there was no point wasting time and energy angsting and stressing out about his problems when he could spend the time bettering himself.

 _'... REALLY_ _would be nice if Arceus gave me some kind of idea about WHEN he's gonna call, though'_ Ash mentally griped.

There was another, even longer and more awkward silence between Ash and Professor Oak this time, and like before it was broken by a groan from the old man. Though a less aggressive and irritable one this time, and more just a tired, resigned moan.

"Hmm… I suppose there's not really much else we can do at the moment. Finding all of your old Pokemon again is top priority, of course, and you're going to need a solid training routine and strategy to solve the League and Team Rocket agendas. Keep me regularly informed of your progress, and if there's anything else I can do, just say it. I'll think harder planning ahead for the future, clearly we're going to be at this for a long time…"

"I'll call you if anything comes up. Just… thanks, Professor. It helps to know that I can count on you with all this crazy stuff going on" Ash told his mentor sincerely. The old man smiled warmly.

"You always can, my boy" Said Oak. He paused, scratching his cheek and looking suddenly a bit sheepish "… I think I had something else I wanted to say to you earlier, actually, but I really don't remember it now. Oy, honestly though, with these conflicting sets of memories my mind's all over the place right now. I'm still struggling to even work out whether I had Porridge for breakfast this morning, or Pizza, because I'm sure it was different in both timelines"

Ash later wondered what it said about his thought process that Pikachu being able to talk to him now was a lot less odd than hearing that someone ate pizza for breakfast. Was that even weird to most people?

"Maybe you should sleep on it, Professor" Ash cautiously advised. The Professor shrugged at him.

"Yes, I probably should. And who knows, maybe when I wake up, this will all turn out to have been some absurd dream of mine, and the world will be perfectly back to normal and Tracey will still be around to help me with all my chores again" Professor Oak mused with a long, dry laugh that made Ash look at him with slightly more concern.

"Probably not, Professor, or I'm sure I would have woken up by now" Ash said. Though actually, come to think of it, maybe he actually had a point and this whole scenario was all the work of some Darkrai that had hit him with dark void?

Most likely not, that would be too easy, and the last time that happened things had been slightly more trippy. But Ash could always hope it was that simple. Troublesome legendary Pokemon toying around with him were always easier to deal with than winning leagues.

"Well… anyway, I won't keep you waiting any longer Ash. I still have some chores to finish and elaborate, long term plans to map out, so for the moment I'll trust you to make the right choices and get a good start on this new journey of yours. Tell Misty and Brock I said hi. And this Angie friend of yours, I'd like to meet her eventually. Now goodbye" And with that said, Professor Oak leaned forward again and reached for something off screen, and the monitor turned black again, the Arcanine mural sliding back into its place.

* * *

_***Professor** **Oak's** **Lab,** **that same** **moment***_

"Uuuuuuuugh!"

Professor Oak let out a long groan and put his hands to his face.

He'd tried not to show it in front of Ash, but honestly for most of the past day, since Ash had restored his old memories and explained the dilemma with the Beyonder to him, Samuel's head had been almost constantly thumping.

He'd joked about his breakfast in front of Ash, but truth is, having two whole sets of memories in his mind was the most disorientating experience he had surely had in either of those lives, and the more memories flashed back and forward in his brain, the more he had trouble reconciling which memory belonged where.

Some of them were very clear cut. In one life, when he was ten years old and still fresh on his first travels out of Kanto, he had met a Celebi under siege from a Pokemon hunter, that sent him temporarily into the future and on a crazy adventure with Ash. That was surely the old timeline, but in this one, he was sure he'd never seen a Celebi in his life.

In the old timeline, he had a son who was approaching 36 by the time the universe reset, who was the father of his only grandchild Gary. In this reality though? He had no son, rather a daughter, now deceased, and a second grandchild who was a girl two years Gary's elder.

But then there was stuff like… in one timeline, Samuel's family had had a pet Growlithe that he had been close to growing up, and in the other they had a Meowth. He couldn't recall which was true to this reality, and he hadn't been able to dig out any old enough photo albums to verify that.

More worryingly, in one timeline he had a childhood friend named Chester who had become a mailman in Violet City the last he heard of him. And in the other, Chester had died as a child when his house caught fire. And to Samuel's horror, he had earlier realized that he had never asked for Chester's current home phone number in whatever life he had lived to old age, so for the last two hours he had been stressing out trying desperately to think of how to verify whether a friend of his was even alive or not.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. In one reality, he had travelled on a journey until he was about eighteen before finally deciding he had the worldly experience to become a Pokemon Professor, but in another he had been a professional trainer until he was about twenty.

In one life he was good friends with a man named Professor Hastings, who was a top scientist working for the ranger union, for most of his thirties, but had lost touch with him for years. And in another life, they'd never even met. And maybe Hastings had never existed at all in that one, because there the ranger union had another scientist in his exact position.

In one life, he had met Agatha of the Kanto Elite 4 only three times and was cordial with her at best. And in another life, they had been friends and rivals when they started out on their Pokemon Journeys, and Samuel had actually contemplated MARRYING HER when he was a teenager.

The old man rubbed his temples at that one. He really hoped he never encountered the ghostly maiden again before he sorted THAT one out, or he just knew things would get so awkward.

For what felt like an eternity after he had hung up on Ash, Professor Samuel Oak just sat back in his chair, eyes closed as he tried to make some semblance of sense of it all.

And then out of nowhere a loud buzzing sound followed by a sudden vibration against his chest snapped the tired old man out of his stupor and made him jump straight to his feet in a panic. Looking frantically around the room, Oak's mind slowly cleared and he eventually pulled out the pokegear he had stored in the pocket of his lab coat.

Pressing a button to end the alarm, the now sweating old man took several steady breaths and, through a bit of struggle, pushed as many of those annoying memories to the back of his mind as he could, and brought his focus back to the present.

It was about seven O'clock at night, and he still had to feed some of the ranch Pokemon their supper. Including the two remaining starter Pokemon in the lab he was in.

Good, good. A convenient distraction that would keep his mind firmly rooted in the here and now for a while. That should help with maintaining his sanity.

After a few more steady breaths to help clear his mind, Professor Oak went over to a cupboard on the other side of the room and pulled out two boxes of Pokemon food, one specially made pellets for fire type Pokemon, and the other water type. He made his way over to the pedestal in the centre of the room and released a Charmander from its Pokeball.

The red fire lizard looked up at Oak from the ground with expectant, shining eyes, getting excited as the old man placed a food bowl down before it. Charmander was already grabbing pellets and stuffing them into its mouth as Oak was pouring them into the bowl.

When he was done with that, the Professor briefly frowned at the small fire-type. The new trainer that was supposed to come to pick up Charmander today, a boy named Terry, had never turned up to collect it. One of the things he did clearly remember that applied to the previous timeline was that Terry had been a talented trainer for a while, but also oddly lazy.

He was excited about being a trainer for a while and was about as boastful about his skills as Gary had been for a long time… but he hated to face any kind of adversity. If he lost a gym battle, he refused to re-challenge that Gym and moved on to a different one. If he didn't catch a Pokemon on his first try or a battle with a wild Pokemon became a struggle, he'd just run off.

Eventually, after experiencing three losses in a row to other trainers, he returned abruptly one day to Pallet Town, dumped all of his Pokemon besides Charmeleon at Oak's Ranch and declared he was done with Pokemon. In the present Samuel's eye twitched at the thought of it all. Frankly, with such an attitude it was a marvel the boy actually seemed to be progressing faster than Ash for a while.

And apparently, Oak had to assume, in this timeline Terry had just decided training wasn't worth it ahead of time and refused to even turn up. Or, maybe he was also sick like Gary and forgot to call? Oak didn't know, but he wasn't going to worry about it. His father worked at the local Pokemart, so he could ask him about it at any time.

Even if the boy did come for Charmander eventually, Oak was sure he'd just end up quitting again. So, really, how much did it matter he hadn't turned up for it?

After watching Charmander give a satisfied belch as it finished off its supper, Professor Oak eyed the one remaining pokeball on the pedestal. The one containing a Squirtle, which had been Gary's first Pokemon when he started out on his Journey in the old timeline and had become a Blastoise by the time Gary had battled Ash at the Silver Conference in Johto, right before he quit being a Pokemon trainer and settled on an ambition to become a Pokemon Professor.

Professor Oak smiled at those memories, and of knowing how much Blastoise meant to Gary. His grandson wouldn't realise the significance of this second first meeting, of course. Not until Ash restored his memories and roped him into this whole crazy save the world mission of his. He hoped the fallout of that would be less stressful on the boy than it was to him. Hopefully so, he was a lot younger and had less dissonant memories to reconcile.

He looked down suddenly at his hand, which now held a wallet. In thinking of his grandson, he had subconsciously pulled it out. Certainly because one of the pictures inside, as the old man soon pulled out to examine, was a family picture featuring himself, Gary and his sister.

Aah, his sister. Daisy Oak. The Professor eyed her beaming face in the picture for a while. She was a pretty young woman with long brown hair that extended just past her shoulders, and had a kind face.

And just like that, more old memories emerged at the forefront of Professor Oak's mind. Daisy was born just over 18 years ago, a day before the Professor's own birthday. He would muse for years afterwards on how becoming a grandfather was the best gift he'd ever gotten.

She was stubborn as a child, with a strong air of authority to her, like she always considered herself the one in charge of any situation, especially if it had to do with her brother. But she was always kind. Rude at times, much like Gary, but she was generally well meaning. And unlike Gary, by the time she was ten she had already started to mature. Nowadays she was a polite, peppy and earnest young woman, and anyone he'd told about her childhood self couldn't believe she was never always like that.

Daisy loved Pokemon, but was never much interested in traditional battling. Not that she opposed it, she was actually quite good the times she and her Pokemon had battled and she enjoyed watching league matches, it just seemed they were never quite her thing. She preferred to study Pokemon and help Samuel with his research.

Although... Samuel did have his suspicions recently that Pokemon Contests might have just struck her fancy. He'd taken her and Gary to watch the last Grand Festival live, and Daisy had found the more stylish performances and contest battles quite fascinating, and he noticed she'd been watching a lot of Contest Battles online recently.

Who knows, maybe it was just a fad to her. He was in no rush to push her into a career in anything, best to let Daisy figure that out for herself.

Daisy was also great at drawing, and had for a few months now been debating with herself whether she wanted to be a Professor herself, or a Pokemon watcher. Samuel was very curious to how she and Tracey were going to get along, whenever Ash got around to restoring his memories (He couldn't wait. He hoped by some stroke of luck that happened before the Tauros herd came back).

Yes, Daisy Oak was a delightful young woman, Samuel thought to himself. And he cherished her deeply…

"Char?" Charmander stared uncertainly at the Oak family photo as it hit the ground, and upwards at the professor. From the perspective Charmander was looking, it couldn't really see the look of shock and concern now present on the man's face, as a horrifying realization had just been reached in his mind.

_'If Ash succeeds and sets the world back to normal… what'll happen to Daisy…?'_

The old man almost collapsed, managing just in time to grab onto the pedestal before him and steady himself, panting heavily. He remained in that position for quite some time, staring blankly in front of him, his mind almost going numb from shock.

Charmander cried out a few times on the ground to the old man, overcome with concern and desperate to get his attention. When that failed to do anything, he grabbed the old man's left leg and bit into it as hard as he could. Professor Oak snapped back to his senses with a howl of pain, instinctively kicking Charmander away.

He stumbled backwards, just managing to correct himself in time to avoid falling over.  
Looking down at the leg where his trousers now sported a few small holes, Professor Oak glanced over at the downed Charmander and felt a sudden twinge of regret. He kneeled down in front of Charmander, who at first retracted and looked frightened, but calmed down quickly when it saw the apologetic look on the man's face.

"I'm sorry, Charmander. That was careless of me. It's okay. Thank you" Oak said in a soothing voice, carefully extending a hand towards the Pokemon. After a brief hesitation, Charmander began rubbing its head against said hand, and a weak smile appeared on the old man's face as he began petting it for a full minute.

When he was done with that, Oak rose to his feet once more and began tapping his head on both sides forcefully.

_'Stay in the present… stay in the present… the world is in danger! We can't let the Beyonder have it! Time must be restored to normal… don't think about the consequences of that now, worry about that later…!'_

But it was too late now. The thought had already entered his head, and no attempt to brute force the issue to the back of his mind would be able to stop that horrifying idea from haunting Professor Oak from now, until the day this all ended. Either with Ash succeeding at saving the world and restoring the old normal… or failing, and leaving them all trapped in an ever changing world of madness where everyone who lived was the plaything of a monster.

It wasn't a question which of those outcomes was worse… But, Professor Samuel Oak pondered that evening in his lab… was either outcome really for the best… for everyone?

"AAARRRRGH! Arceus, damn it all… I need some wine!" The professor grumbled, furiously grabbing Squirtle's pokeball, pressing the button, and holding it out in front of him. The ball opened...

... And nothing seemed to come out.

...

Professor Oak blinked. He looked around, scanning every corner of the room for any sign of his grandson's Squirtle. There were no other living things in the laboratory at the moment besides him and Charmander, but moments later the professor did find a small piece of paper on the floor that had fallen out of the pokeball

'Heya, I need to borrow this Pokemon for a while. Can't say why, but it's important, trust me. You'll get it back… probably. Thanks for understanding. Chao' There was a small pink heart drawn next to the last word on that note.

...

Charmander stared at the small piece of paper slowly drifting to the floor and then up at Professor Oak again with concern, wondering if he needed to give him another bite.

* * *

_***The** **Viridian** **City Pokemon Center, right after** **Professor** **Oak** **hung** **up***_

Ash reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the glowing feather with the rainbow aura.

He knew from a past experience that this feather was probably called a rainbow wing. It was said that anyone who received one would have the chance to meet Ho-oh someday. Although, Ash knew a certain old man in Ecruteak city that might debate people on the accuracy of that legend. If not right now, in a few years he certainly would, anyway.

' _I wonder if I should have asked the Professor about this?'_ Ash wondered. After some brief thought and considering how much stress the Professor was clearly under, even with his obvious attempts to hide it, Ash decided that it could probably wait a little while.

Still… he did have to wonder just why Ho-oh had dropped the Rainbow Wing. Had it just fallen off by coincidence and Ash was lucky that Misty noticed it? Or did Ho-oh leave it for Ash on purpose? Did it do the same thing in the old timeline, and Ash just didn't see it and left it behind? And if that wasn't true… why did Ash get it now?

What was so different about him or Ho-oh in this timeline that would warrant Ash receiving a rainbow wing? Did it want him to find it?

It was perplexing. Ash figured he probably shouldn't think too hard about it for now, he had bigger, saving the world things to worry about and more immediate questions to ponder… But still. It was Ho-oh. The Legendary Pokemon many people weren't even sure existed, that he'd managed to see by some stroke of luck on the first day of his journey. How could he not ask questions?

Especially if this could mean that, maybe… he had a better chance of meeting it for real now? And not just from a distance? That would be pretty exciting.

He was sure Morty would have a lot to say about the Rainbow Wing whenever he got around to showing it to him, anyway.

Ash was pulled away from those thoughts as a loud ding indicated the automatic doors at the front of the Pokemon center were opening. Stuffing the rainbow wing quickly back into his pocket, Ash turned around to see Misty enter the center and approach him.

"How's Pikachu doing?" Misty asked.

"Don't know yet. Nurse Joy hasn't come back out yet, but she said he'd be fine" Ash told her, feeling mildly worried though at how long Joy was taking "Oh, I talked to Angie"

"And?"

"She's doing fine. She says she'll meet us in Cerulean when we all get there. You'll probably get along, Angie's pretty cool. Oh, and Professor Oak called up too" Ash explained.

"Oh good, did you ask him about my bike?" Misty asked cheerfully.

Ash fell silent.

"… You forgot, didn't you?" Misty deadpanned.

"… Heh heh… sorry" Ash said nervously. Misty face palmed.

"For crying out… how'd you forget about…" Misty trailed off, shaking her head.

"I'll text him later on the Pokegear. It's not a problem" Ash said defensively, and Misty rolled her eyes.

"I don't know how you'd have ever managed without me and Brock around" Misty quipped. Ash wouldn't admit it out loud… but he kinda wondered the same thing at that moment "But yeah, you better text him or something. I really like that bike"

"It did kinda bring us together, didn't it?" Ash mused, scratching his head with some amusement.

"Exactly why I like it so much" Misty whispered. Ash blinked and gave her an odd look, and she hastily added "… Uh, so… Team Rocket showed up yet?"

"Oh? No, not yet. Come to think of it though, last time they showed up pretty soon after you, so… probably not long now" Ash said, staring at the glass portion of the ceiling expectantly "… I probably can't supercharge Pikachu without your bike, come to think of it… you can handle Koffing, Ekans and Meowth just fine with Staryu and Starmie, right?"

Misty gave Ash a very smug grin "If they have Lickitung and Victreebel in tow this time, it just might be a fair fight" she bragged. Ash suppressed a chuckle, but he certainly admired her confidence. And hey, she was probably right.

Though now a part of him worried that they'd have that weird vending machine with them this time and pull out a Tyranitar and a Groudon. That would be a disaster. Hopefully not and it really was just Koffing and Ekans.

"… By the way, did you know that the Gym Leader in this city is the leader of Team Rocket?" Ash suddenly asked. Misty's eyes widened for a moment, but her surprise was rather short lived.

"Oh… yeah, I think I heard something about that on the news a year or two back" Misty said, scratching her chin "Something about these genie Pokemon or something in Unova, and Cynthia was involved… I think they mentioned you. Because of course you'd be there"

"Yeah, I was" Ash admitted.

"And no-one told you he was the Gym Leader all this time?" Misty asked. Ash shrugged as a response "… Weird. So, is there anything else you need to do right now, or should we just grab a soda and talk about stuff until Team Rocket show up and we have to start dealing with their nonsense all over again?"

"Well, I don't know if we have enough time before that happens, but I do need to call my mom and Molly and tell them I'm doing alright" Ash said. He noticed Misty was looking at him oddly at the mention of Molly "... Molly Hale. You remember her from Johto, right?"

"From Greenfield?" Misty questioned, earning a nod from Ash "What's she doing with your mom?"

"Her family haven't moved away yet… and apparently she's kinda like a little sister to me in this reality" Ash said awkwardly. Misty stared blankly at him.

"… Okay then…" She said dryly "… Did her mom not disappear this time, too? Because it would be pretty nice if we didn't have to deal with the Unown again this time"

"No, she's still disappeared. So, we'll probably have to deal with them at some point" Ash said. He thought for a moment "… Although Professor Oak does know all about that, so maybe we can talk Spencer out of moving to Greenfield and find a way to avoid all that stuff happening the same way? I'm not sure what we'd do about Molly's mom though?"

"You think maybe we should just let things play out then? Or try and stop Spencer from disappearing and setting off the whole expanding castle of crystal incident anyway and confront the Unown ourselves?" Misty pondered.

"I… really don't know? I think Molly's supposed to be moving again pretty soon, so it's not like we have a lot of time to work something out. I'll text Professor Oak about that too, see if he can work something out" Ash said. Misty shrugged.

"Gotta try something. Anyway, yeah, let's call your mom" Misty said.

"Could you not mention anything about the bike?" Ash asked. Misty turned up her nose.

"I make no promises" Misty said pointedly. Ash sighed miserably.

The two teens had just started walking to the computers when Ash noticed a door opening in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Nurse Joy and her Chansey entering the lobby, the former gesturing for Ash to come over shortly after. Ash quickly complied, followed by Misty.

"Is Pikachu going to be alright?" Ash asked instinctively.

The pink haired nurse smiled warmly at Ash and nodded "Pikachu's doing fine. I dare say he'll be fully recovered by morning, the poor thing's mostly just exhausted right now. Lucky you got here when you did"

Ash and Misty breathed sighs of relief.

"Well, that's good" Misty said. Ash began nodding in agreement, but froze up halfway through, his brow furrowing as something clicked in his head.

 _'Hey, wait...'_ Ash thought, staring contemplatively between Nurse Joy and her pink helper Pokemon _'Didn't Nurse Joy come out right before-'_

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by a loud police siren.

 **"Your attention please!"** Officer Jenny's voice rang out through a set of Pokeball shaped speakers hanging from the ceiling of the Pokemon Center lobby

**"Our Viridian City Radar sensors have detected an aircraft belonging to a gang of Pokemon Thieves! If you have a Pokemon in your possession, please exercise extreme caution!"**

"Oh dear" Nurse Joy gasped, putting a hand to her mouth in worry.

Ash and Misty tensed up, the latter reaching for her Pokeballs.

_'_ _Thought so'_

The teens eyed the glass ceiling of the center expectantly, and right on cue a duo of poison type Pokemon, a purple snake and a lumpy ball, smashed through it. The purple snake, Ekans, landed carefully on the tip of its tail in the middle of the room while the purple ball Pokemon, Koffing, stopped itself an inch before hitting the ground, floated upwards and began rapidly expelling smoke from the holes across its body.

Ash, Misty, Nurse Joy and Chansey covered their mouths as the brown smoke began filling the room, obscuring everything around them. The former two glared expectantly in the direction the poison-types had landed, as two familiar voices called out a familiar tune through the smog.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

Ash's eyes narrowed. Slowly, the smog before him started to fade, allowing him to spot two very distinct silhouettes. A moment later, Koffing's smoke had mostly retreated to the edges of the Pokemon Centres entrance hall, and the full forms of the two intruders became clear.

One was a woman with a very long purple ponytail that curved at the end. The other was a man with short blue hair and green eyes, standing gracefully and holding a rose. Both were dressed in mostly white outfits, with large red R symbols emblazoned along the chest area.

Glancing sideways at their audience, the man and woman smiled wickedly.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To Unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our Reach to the stars above!"

The woman put a hand to her hip, striking a pose and leaning her head back.

"Jessie!"

The blue haired man closed his eyes and held the rose below his chin, turning to fully face the crowd before him.

"James!"

Jessie held her hand up in a dramatic fashion.

"Team Rocket, blasts off at the speed of light!"

James opened his eyes, tossing the rose in his hand aside as he mimicked Jessie's gesture.

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

And right on cue, a white cat with a golden charm on top of its head landed in between the Dastardly duo.

"Meowth, that's right!"

Nurse Joy bristled, putting a hand to her mouth and looking on in concern as a frightened Chansey held onto her.

Ash and Misty were a lot less worried, and the latter wasted no time in summoning Staryu and Starmie, putting a foot forward and striking a defiant pose.

The trio of crooks' expressions went from menacing to bemused at that action.

"… Hmm? That's an interesting reaction" James mused, scratching his chin.

"Must think she's some kind of big shot" Jessie said, holding her hand to her cheek and laughing pompously "She'll soon learn! It takes more than a couple of twerps to thwart Team Rocket!"

It took every last ounce of inner strength Ash had not to burst out laughing at that declaration in front of Nurse Joy.

"You picked the wrong Pokemon Center to mess with, Team Rocket!" Misty announced, raising a fist "If you know what's good for you, you'll quit now while you're ahead and we won't have to send you blasting off!"

"Oh no Jessie, it sounds like this girl means business" James said with mock concern. Jessie craned her neck, leaning backwards as she placed the back of her left hand against her forehead and closed her eyes.

"Oh, whatEVER shall we DO!" Jessie proclaimed in the most overly dramatic tone possible "What chance do we, a trained Team of criminals belonging to the most dangerous, infamous gang in all of Kanto, stand against this random teenage girl!"

"Yes, truly we have met our match" Meowth chimed in, nodding solemnly. He and his cohorts went silent for a long moment, and then simultaneously burst out in hysterical laughter. Misty just glared unblinkingly at them all throughout, while Nurse Joy regarded her defiant behaviour with some concern.

After a full minute of laughter, the Rocket Trio finally regained their composure and assumed menacing poses and expressions once more.

"Okay, fun's over" Jessie said, contemplating Staryu and Starmie, who had crouched down in preparation to launch attacks, and then narrowed her eyes at their trainer "You're a brave little brat, I'll give you that. But courage won't get you anywhere with us"

"What do you people want!?" Nurse Joy asked, earning a mocking laugh from Jessie.

"What else, but all of the Pokemon that have been left in your care" Jessie answered.

"So we can give them to our boss, and put Team Rocket one step closer to our goal of world domination" James continued.

Meowth nodded, crossing his arms and holding his head up proudly "So if you dopes knows what's good for ya, you'll hand over your Pokeballs and let us through. Otherwise you're in for da beatin' of your lives"

Misty smirked "Why don't you stop yapping and prove it. Or are you too scared to battle and think you can just bluff us all to death?"

A vein bulged on Jessie's head "If you insist. Ekans!"

At its masters command, Ekans shot forward past Jessie and James and struck up a pose in front of the two starfish Pokemon, hissing furiously at them.

"Koffing, you too!" James ordered, and Koffing floated forward to join Ekans, billowing more smoke in an intimidating gesture.

"Good luck" Ash whispered to Misty, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Staryu, Starmie! Get ready!"

The air was tense as the four Pokemon stared each other down.

Nurse Joy and Chansey inched back, ready to make a break for the room behind the counter where the Pokeballs containing all the Pokemon in their care were kept, while Ash began rapidly thinking over the best possible tactics Misty could use to turn the fight in her favour, ready to call out advice if she needed it even though he was certain she'd pull through. Jessie, James and Meowth watched on with wicked grins, chuckling confidently.

A long silence followed as each active trainer waited for one side to make the first move. Eventually, Jessie threw up her hand and began to call out a command.

But whatever order she gave was drowned out by the loud bell of the front doors, and before Jessie, James, or anyone else gathered in the Pokemon centre could even blink, a streak of blue light burst into the room and began encircling the members of Team Rocket. Ekans and Koffing seemed to blip out of existence for a second before suddenly reappearing next to their respective trainers.

Team Rocket had no more time to react beyond letting out loud cries of confusion as the blue streak became a full on blue tornado that obscured them from view, and summoning strong gusts of wind that lashed out across the room, almost sending Misty, her Pokemon, Ash and Nurse Joy and her Chansey flying backwards in the process.

Struggling to steady themselves against the push of the sudden winds, Misty and Ash threw up their left hands to cover their faces, as the strong gales made it impossible to properly look in front of them. But then, just as suddenly as it had all started, the winds subsided.

When Ash and Misty lowered their hands and looked again to where the blue tornado had been, they found only the members of Team Rocket, hands tied behind their backs and their legs tied together, while Ekans and Koffing had both been locked in cages. All of them looked exactly as confused as our heroes.

...

"... what just happened?" Meowth wondered.

Ash and Misty blinked, the latter rubbing her eyes a few times before taking another look. A tapping sound alerted them to a figure standing at the edge of the room. He was a blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog wearing gloves and a pair of red sneakers, tapping his foot on the ground and regarding the bound criminal gang with much amusement. Noticing that Ash and Misty's gazes had fallen on him, the Hedgehog shot them a friendly smile and waved his hand at them.

"Sorry I took so long, an old lady needed help crossing the street, and I just couldn't say no" The hedgehog said, looking over the Rocket Trio again "Still, I think it's safe to say everything worked out fine. Those are the bad guys, right?"

Ash and Misty just stared incredulously at him. The hedgehog raised an eyebrow uncertainly at them.

"What, you never seen a blue hedgehog with super speed save the day before?" He asked, shaking his head. Suddenly he vanished in another flash of blue light, and to Ash and Misty's continued shock he reappeared next to Nurse Joy, who looked much less baffled by him but still rather taken aback by the abruptness of everything that was happening around her.

"Anyway, you're a Nurse Joy, right?" The hedgehog asked. The pink-haired woman nodded, earning a satisfied smile from the blue wonder "Nice to meet'cha. Anyway, you should probably call Officer Jenny to arrest those guys. Hopefully then they won't bother anybody from now on"

Another flash of light, and he stood above the ensnared Jessie, James and Meowth, looking down at them with a cocky grin. At first they all stared blankly at him, but eventually they came to their senses and started glaring and then pulling at the ropes, squirming around in an effort to break free.

"Don't even bother, I tied you up real good. You won't be going anywhere until Officer Jenny arrives to take you away" The hedgehog said plainly. The Trio halted their struggles and increased the intensity of their glares "Honestly, I don't get you Team Rocket guys. Stealing other people's Pokemon? Hurting people to get what you want? How pathetic can you get?"

"And who do you think you are giving us lectures, furball!?" Jessie spat at the hedgehog. By her side, James was about to shoot off a retort of his own, but then realization seemed to dawn on his face as he got a better look at the figure before him.

"Wait a minute, Jess" James said in a hushed tone, earning the attention of his cohorts "I think… I think I know who this guy is"

"No foolin'? Then spill it" Meowth demanded.

"He's Sonic the hedgehog, of the Knothole Freedom Fighters" James responded, eyes widening in amazement.

"Who?" Jessie and Meowth asked in unison.

"He's a Mobian Superhero! He travels the lands, defeating villains wherever he goes. He's responsible for apprehending no less than three hundred Team Rocket agents from our Johto branches in the past five years. Because of him, there's only a single Team Rocket Cell left operating across the Northern half of the region, due to its proximity with the Knothole border" James explained, looking simultaneously terrified and oddly thrilled.

Jessie and Meowth just looked terrified to hear about it.

"GAH! I remember hearing about him now! Some grunts that transferred over from Johto was telling horror stories about him. Dis guy is like Team Rocket's number one greatest enemy after the G-men!" Meowth yelled, frantically trying to pull free from his restraints again to no success "What da heck is he doin' here?! He never bothers us here in Kanto!"

"Oh, I was just passing through, enjoying the scenery" Sonic chuckled, casually shrugging as he began circling the Rocket Trio "Saw you guys flying by in your fancy balloon, and I thought I might come and say hi. And that's all you ever need to know"

"Can I…" James hesitated, stars forming in his eyes as Sonic turned to look at him "… Can I have your autograph?"

Jessie and Meowth's jaws dropped and they both looked at James like he'd said a horrible swear word in front of school children. Sonic just blinked a few times before awkwardly shrugging, disappearing in another blue flash for a second before reappearing with a marker pen in hand.

"Sure, why not" Sonic said, stepping behind James and kneeling down, holding the marker before the back of his shirt "So, uh… who am I making this out to?"

"James. And could you sign it "Your pal, Sonic the Hedgehog"?" James asked giddily.

"Sure thing" Sonic agreed, then started loudly speaking the words he began writing along the back of James's shirt "To, James… stop… stealing… other people's… Pokemon… it's… not… nice… your pal, the fastest thing alive… Sonic… the… Hedge-hog!" Sonic finished writing and pulled back, rising to his feet "Done!"

James let out an excited whinny.

"Thank you very much!" James exclaimed. Sonic shrugged non-chalantly.

"Anything for a fan" Sonic said coolly, walking away from the captive Trio. James grinned like an idiot for a moment before noticing the disapproving, bemused scowls on his friends' faces. Slowly his expression turned apologetic and awkward, a strained chuckle escaping his lips.

"… The hell was dat…?" Meowth's eye twitched.

"I'm…" James fell silent for a moment, staring at the floor, which if his hands were free he'd probably be rubbing a finger against in a circular motion "… I'm a… bit of a fan of superheroes… odd for a villain, I know… it's a guilty pleasure of mine…"

Jessie pursed her lips "You realize that if anyone at headquarters sees you wearing that shirt, they're going to have you court-martialed, right?"

James's face turned frantic, and he let out an awkward laugh "Well, good thing I have other shirts to wear… we can all agree to keep this our little secret, right… aha ha… right, Jessie? Right, Meowth?!"

"If we don't get outta dese ropes, we're never gonna get a chance to tell nobody even if we wanted to" Meowth said in a deadpanned voice.

As the Team Rocket Trio renewed their struggles against the ropes tying their limbs together, Ekans and Koffing simply sighing and resigning themselves to confinement in their cages, Sonic approached Ash, Misty and Nurse Joy again.

"Hate to save the day and run, but I can't stand police procedural stuff. Plus, I kinda want to search the rest of the city in case there's more Rocket folks lurking around" Sonic explained. Nurse Joy gave a gracious nod.

"Oh… that's okay. You've been a great help, really. We can take it from here" Nurse Joy said. Sonic smiled and saluted her, then did the same to Ash and Misty, who had continued to just stare blankly at the hedgehog for the entire time.

"Well, alright then. Do me another favour, and don't mention I was here, if that's okay. Okay? Later"

Sonic vanished in a blue flash again, reappearing by the automatic front doors. He tapped his foot while waiting for them to open completely, casually stepped outside, and then he became a blue streak that took off down the road outside of the center.

The doors closed shortly after, and just like that, it was like the super-speeding hedgehog had never been.

Ash and Misty continued to just stare at the doors for three minutes after Sonic was gone, by which point Nurse Joy had already made a call to Officer Jenny.

"… alright then" Ash finally blurted out.

Misty shook her head "I don't know why I'm so surprised. I've seen Mobians like him before in this life"

"You ever seen any with Pokemon powers before?"

"Admittedly not. But still" Misty sighed. She glanced over at Team Rocket, who were still squirming around on the floor trying to break free "… Is it weird that I feel cheated that it wasn't me that beat them?"

Misty quietly returned Staryu and Starmie to their pokeballs as Nurse Joy approached the two teens once more.

"I'm terribly sorry you both had to get caught up in that whole mess. Thank you very much for trying to help. Luckily Sonic was here to sort it out. Never thought I'd see him here in my own Pokemon Center" Nurse Joy said, looking a bit giddy "Could I ask if you could help move them into the storage room until Officer Jenny arrives. It should take her ten minutes, and I'd rather not have a bunch of criminals lying tied up in a heap in the middle of my center"

"Oh no problem!" Ash said enthusiastically, suddenly sensing an opportunity "In fact… I'll keep an eye on them in there for you until she gets here"

"Really?" Nurse Joy put her hands together, looking pleasantly surprised "I'd be very grateful… though, they're dangerous criminals, so maybe Chansey should-"

"I'll be fine! I'll gag their mouths shut if I have to, don't worry" Ash said, laughing confidently.

Misty gave Ash a prying look, and when Nurse Joy wasn't looking she leaned in and whispered into his ear "You're up to something, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'll explain later after they scram out of here… just trust me, this is important" Ash answered. Misty looked at him uncertainly, clearly wanting to protest, but ultimately deciding against it.

"Alright… I trust you, Ash…" Misty said, pulling away from him as Nurse Joy looked in their direction again.

"Okay, let's start moving them. Chansey?"

"Chansey, Chance!"

Ash, Misty and Chansey picked up Meowth and Ekans and Koffing's cages and moved them into the large storage room located near the video phones, as they were the easiest to move. And then Ash and Chansey grabbed a hold of James and Jessie respectively by the legs, dragging the screaming adults against their wills with much difficulty as the Trio struggled with all of their might to make things obnoxiously difficult for them.

When they were done, Chansey clapped Ash's hand, waved approvingly at him and left the room, Ash closing the door behind her and turning on the captive Rocket Trio who had stopped struggling and looked resigned to their fate.

"Well… at least we can say it took one of Team Rocket's greatest enemies ta bring us down, right?" Meowth offered his friends.

"I guess a few years in prison isn't the worst thing that could ever happen to us. We could be forced to spend an afternoon with my fiancé" James said distantly.

"Your what?" Jessie blinked at him.

"Nothing!" James hastily added.

Ash leaned against the door, looking over his long-time enemies and thinking back to how they had first met in this same Pokemon Center in the old timeline.

Pikachu had recovered with some assistance from the dozens of other Pikachu that used their stored up electricity to help run the building, and Ash had turned Misty's charred bike into a treadmill that he hooked up to a device on Pikachu's head to supercharge his Pokemon. Pikachu had sent the Trio blasting off with a thunderbolt so powerful it destroyed most of the Pokemon Center.

Since that day, Team Rocket had followed him relentlessly through every region he had travelled, determined to steal Pikachu away from him. Ash had met and parted ways with many close friends over the years… but Team Rocket were a constant presence. Right up until the universe as he had known it had ended. And it had long started to feel like a given that that would never change.

Ash wanted to hate them. They were bad people who caused no end of trouble for him, his friends, and so many people. They made it their mission in life to separate Ash from his best friend, all because they thought it would help them and their evil boss conquer the world.

It sickened him, the lengths they would go to… the many people and Pokemon they had hurt.

It was disgusting and unthinkable to Ash that anyone would want to make it their goal in life to steal Pokemon away from their trainers and force them to battle for them instead. A part of him felt like he should just let Officer Jenny take them away, lock them up for good this time.

It wouldn't change anything when the timeline was restored to normal, they'd still be after him. And the cycle would rinse and repeat. But it might still be nice to be free of them for a couple of years, anyway.

A part of Ash REALLY wanted to completely hate Team Rocket, write them off as a bunch of lousy, hopeless, no-good crooks…

… and yet…

Ash closed his eyes, thinking back to many of the times where they WEREN'T being a bunch of criminals.

The time at Shamouti, where they had helped him save the world from being overwhelmed by natural disasters, even being willing to sacrifice their lives to do it.

The times Ash and his friends fought Teams Galactic, Plasma and Flare, and Team Rocket had readily worked with them to help bring down the much worse, more evil villains.

The time before Ash and Pikachu went to challenge Lt. Surge to a rematch, and the Trio had inexplicably dressed up in weird outfits and put on a performance to cheer them on.

The time at Mt Quena, where the Trio had actively defied and worked against the rest of Team Rocket for a moment at the end and even agreed to keep Mewtwo's existence a secret from Giovanni.

The time Ash, May, Brock and Max had met James's grandparents while Team Rocket were visiting because his Chimeco had fallen sick. How James had begged Ash and his friends not to tell the kindly old couple he was a criminal since he didn't want to upset them, and then readily helped foil Jessie and Meowth when they went ahead and tried to steal Pokemon anyway.

The many times Jessie and James had shown that, despite all of their criminal tendencies and how selfish and hurtful they could be to others… they really loved and appreciated all of their own Pokemon, and took care of them better than anyone could have expected from a bunch of thieving scoundrels.

And there were many more memories Ash had like that.

It was strange, really. Team Rocket WERE bad people. They were crooks, thieves, they never learned from their mistakes and openly declared themselves evil at times… but they really weren't. Or at least, no matter how hard Ash tried… for the longest time, he could never actually think of them like that anymore.

He thought they were a nuisance, sure. He thought they could be dangerous and he refused to let them off easy for the trouble they caused others. But they had hearts. They could be nice, and for all their arguing they seemed to really care about each other as much as Ash cared about all of his best friends.

And a part of him always wished that, just maybe… maybe someday, they could change. Maybe someday Team Rocket wouldn't be a thing anymore, and Jessie, James and Meowth might become good people.

He never gave it too much thought. They'd had plenty of chances over the years, and they were still constantly doing the same bad things over and over without shame… but what if…

Ash closed his eyes and hummed loudly, thinking about the mission Arceus and the Beyonder had given him. To win at least five Pokemon League Tournaments… and to bring down all of the regional villainous Teams, including Team Rocket.

He would need all the help he could get if he was going to accomplish that last one, considering how Team Rocket had consistently been the only evil Team like them to refuse to be brought down no matter how many of their schemes Ash and his friends foiled.

Jessie, James and Meowth would obviously know more about the wider organisation of Team Rocket than anybody else Ash could think of. Just how much easier would the task of stopping Team Rocket be if he got them to turn over a new leaf?

Maybe he was just being stupid, Ash thought to himself. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, that the three of them could truly, completely and utterly turn around and become good people. Maybe he was asking too much of them. Maybe even with the fate of the world at stake, their loyalty to their boss, to their criminal ways… maybe they just couldn't… didn't want to change.

But he had to try, right? The fate of the world, of everyone he knew and loved and the people he didn't even know… it all depended in large part on stopping Team Rocket. If there was even a chance Jessie, James and Meowth could be redeemed… was it not the right thing to do to offer it to them?

Ten minutes, Joy had said it would take for Officer Jenny to arrive. He'd overthought it enough already. Now or never, it was the time to act.

"Hey, James" Ash called out, earning the blue haired man's attention before he kneeled down next to him "Hold still a minute, I'm going to get you out"

James, Jessie and Meowth all blinked at Ash.

"… What? Really?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at Ash suspiciously.

"Yes" Ash said, moving to untie the ropes around James's hands. The Rocket Trio looked on in confusion for a moment, but gradually started to smile and look really excited.

"Why, thank you" James said with a gracious smile "But... why?"

Ash finished undoing the knot, freeing James's hands. He grabbed the right one and gripped it firmly.

"Because I need your help" Ash said, concentrating his thoughts on the word _'Remember!'_

James glared at Ash in a moment of confusion… and then his eyes went completely blank, and he fell motionless on his back. Jessie and Meowth cried out in panic.

"JAMES!" Jessie wailed.

"What have you done!?" Meowth demanded, equally as distraught.

"I'll show you" Ash said, reaching over to grab Jessie's arm. The purple haired woman flailed around in a panic, screaming profanities and threats at the cap wearing sixteen year old. But mere seconds later, she too fell silently on her back, eyes glazed over.

"You… you…!" Meowth was panting heavily, looking absolutely horrified as Ash moved over to him. Then panic gave way to fury, and he hissed at the boy "What have you done to my friends!?"

"They'll be fine, Meowth" Ash told him, putting a hand against the cat's head right beside his charm "I just need you all to remember"

And then Meowth went silent.

Ash pulled off his right glove just in time to see the mark on his hand change from a 17 to a 16. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

There was no going back now.

Quickly, Ash finished untying the dazed Rocket Trio. He had just about finished with Meowth's restraints when they all simultaneously came around, rubbed their heads and glanced up at Ash, who had then risen to his feet and was looking expectantly at them.

They all glared.

"… I have many questions" Said Jessie.

"I don't have a lot of time to answer them all" Ash sighed "But basically… I need your help to save the world"

The Trio exchanged curious glances, rapidly scurried to the back of the room and shot to their feet, eyeing Ash suspiciously.

"We're listening" Meowth said, waving his paw for Ash to continue. He nodded.

"It's a long and complicated story, but to keep it short... the world got taken over by an evil God thing called the Beyonder. He reset time and made a bunch of changes to the world while Arceus was asleep, and when Arceus woke up he made a bet with him to get it back and set everything back to normal. Basically, they sent me back in time, and I need to do a bunch of things to win that bet, or the Beyonder gets to keep the world and mess around with it as much as he wants. They gave me the ability to restore people's memories of the world as it's supposed to be to help me out with that… and that includes you guys"

...

"..." Jessie's eye twitched "… I want to say that's the biggest load of baloney I've ever heard in my life. But coming from you, and everything we've been through since we started following you, it all sounds completely believable"

"Everyone keeps saying something like that" Ash said, scratching his head "Are our lives really that weird?"

"Yes!" The Rocket Trio said in unison. Ash shook his head briefly and gave them all serious looks.

"So, you all believe I'm probably telling the truth here. And I know that despite how evil you guys are, you really don't want the world destroyed, or taken over by anyone else, right?" Ash asked. They all nodded "And we've all worked together before when we had no other choice… and believe me, there is no other choice here but winning this bet"

"And what kind of a bet would that be, exactly?" James inquired.

"There's a few things I have to do" Ash began "First, The Beyonder wants me to go back and compete in all seven regional League tournaments I challenged before I started working for Professor Cerise. And this time, I need to win at least five out of seven of them, plus the Orange League and the Battle Frontier. And then I need to become World Champion"

There was a lengthy pause where Jessie, James and Meowth all just stared blankly at Ash.

"… Well, we can kiss reality goodbye already" Meowth snarked, while Jessie and James suddenly put their hands to their heads, motioning like they were nursing massive migraines.

"Such a pity. There was a collector's convention going on in Celadon City the next week, and I was looking forward to sharing my bottle cap collection with my fellow enthusiasts" James sighed, shamefully shaking his head.

Ash gave the Trio an aggravated scowl, but continued on "Second, I need to beat all of the Villain Teams I fought again"

Jessie pointed a finger at Ash "Okay, now that one's realistic anyway. Let me think, who were all of those second rate Rocket rivals again?"

"Team Agua, Team Magma, Team Galactic, Team Plasma and Team Flare" James read off from memory "Hmm… and I guess there were a bunch of minor villains here or there, but those are the big villain teams. Those are the guys you're talking about, right Twerp?"

"Yeah, all of those guys" Ash nodded. Meowth gave a boastful laugh.

"Dat shouldn't be too hard. We singlehandedly put all those chowderheads in their place last time simple enough, how hard could it be doin' it all again" Meowth said, waving a paw.

"… You guys didn't beat them singlehandedly" Ash blanked.

"But the boss doesn't need to know that" Jessie said, chortling deviously and wagging her finger at Ash.

"… Riiiight" Ash said sarcastically.

"I assume that's the part you wanted help with? Because we helped you out with all that the last time?" James asked.

"Yes" Ash said, taking his time to choose his next words "… But also because, this time I need to take down your boss and the rest of Team Rocket too"

The Trio balked at that.

"WHAAAAAAT?!"

"I'm taking down Team Rocket" Ash told the Trio firmly, crossing his arms "And if you don't want to rot in jail forever, or spend your lives being the play things of a super powered bully that might just wreck the world completely because he's bored, you're all going to help me do it"

"You're outta your twerp mind!" Meowth hissed.

"Like we'd ever help YOU take down the boss! Team Rocket is everything to us!" Jessie declared defiantly.

"So you all want the world to be messed up forever?" Ash asked simply. All three Rocket agents opened their mouths to retort, only to freeze up and remain motionless for about ten seconds before simultaneously scratching their heads and shifting their feet awkwardly.

"Well… no…" Meowth sheepishly admitted. Then he stamped his foot "But we're not going to betray our Team! Why the heck do ya think we would?!"

"Because" Ash started, looking Meowth right in the eye "You guys all know that the only future you have with Team Rocket is constantly trying and failing to steal my Pikachu, and never accomplishing anything worthwhile for the rest of your lives"

The Rocket Trio were all stunned speechless at Ash's words.

"You know I'm right, don't you?" Ash continued, addressing the whole group of Rockets this time "You'll never steal Pikachu away from me forever. You've been chasing me for six years, and lost every single time. The only Pokemon you've ever caught were your own. EVERY scheme of yours to steal someone else's Pokemon failed. And the rest of Team Rocket's no different: Every time me and my friends got involved in one of their bigger schemes, they LOST. Your boss himself failed to get Mewtwo, and he failed again in Unova when he tried to control Thunderus, Tornadus and Landorus"

Ash took three steps forward, a part of him almost revelling in the increasingly shocked expressions of the Trio as he approached "Team Rocket are never going to take over the world. If it was possible for anyone to do that, any of those other villain teams might have done it already. Team Rocket isn't any different; your boss just hadn't been arrested yet. You guys are never going to get anything you want in life as long as you work for him… and you know it. Don't you?"

An awkward silence followed as Jessie, James and Meowth each exchanged awkward looks with one another, looking like they were all struggling over how to process all of what Ash had said to them and how to respond. Eventually, James turned to face Ash again and scowled.

"We could…" James hesitated "… We could steal Pikachu… if we tried hard enough, we could…"

"It's been six YEARS!" Ash cut in, making James wince "Six years of NO results! You've tried to steal Pikachu and my other Pokemon more than a thousand times, and each time you lost! At this point, how can you actually think there's even a small chance that next time could be any different?"

"Yeah, well… how many leagues did you lose before Alola!" Jessie spat back. Ash was actually taken aback by that one at first, and had to stop and think for a moment on how to respond.

"… I got better, though" Ash said, making Jessie blink curiously "In almost every League Tournament I competed in, I ranked better than the last one I was in. I beat Drake in the Orange Islands. I beat all seven of the Frontier Brains. Pikachu became strong enough to beat Legendary Pokemon. I caught a whole bunch of Pokemon from all around the world, and trained them all so they were strong"

Ash looked at Jessie, James and Meowth in turn and seriously asked "Have you guys gotten better?"

More stunned silence.

"Well, um…" James stammered.

"We…" Meowth gulped "… We were pretty on fire in Unova for a while, right?"

"And yet you still lost" The Trio recoiled at that response from Ash "Nothing about what you guys were doing in Unova ended any differently than all the times you messed with us in all the other regions. You still kept trying to steal people's Pokemon, the same things you were always doing, and your plans all still failed at the end. The only thing that really changed was your outfits for a while and that you weren't as goofy most of the time… but you still lost every single time!"

Meowth raised a paw to protest, but then lowered it and stared at his feet, looking deflated. Jessie and James shifted uncomfortably at either side of him, and despite everything... seeing the depressed frowns on each of their faces… Ash couldn't help but feel pity for them all.

"You know…" Ash started up, snapping the Trio back to attention "… have you ever… you ever actually thought about it? About quitting Team Rocket? And give being the good guys a try?"

"Nope!"

"Never!"

"Not a chance!"

Ash tapped his foot, staring suspiciously at the Rocket Trio. After a moment's hesitation, they all started shifting around awkwardly again.

"… Well…" Meowth sighed "… Maybe… the thought did cross our minds… once…"

"Or twice" James added.

"Probably more than that" Jessie reluctantly admitted.

Ash smirked, sensing a breakthrough. But then Jessie groaned furiously and threw up her arms.

"Okay, so we've thought about it, but we've never gone through with it, and we don't want to!" The purple haired woman growled at Ash "We're bad guys, and that's the way it is! What makes you think we could be any better off as good guys?"

A sudden jolt of excitement caused Ash to smile widely, Jessie's words bringing about a sort of epiphany within him as he recalled all the past team ups he'd had with the Rocket Trio he'd been mulling over a few minutes ago. The trio themselves were unnerved by it.

"Because" Ash chuckled "All the times you guys stopped being evil for ten minutes to help us out… all of the times you weren't trying to steal Pokemon… all of the times you tried to help people and Pokemon… all of the times you were being good… you succeeded"

Jessie, James and Meowth's jaws hit the floor.

"You guys are TERRIBLE at being villains…" Ash said, staring mirthfully between the Trio "… But when you're good… you're not half bad at it!"

Meowth grabbed the bottoms of Jessie and James' fallen jaws and pushed upwards, causing them to slide back into place and closing their mouths. He picked up his own jaw afterwards and forced his mouth shut. Then he, Jessie and James exchanged looks of utter bemusement and side-eyed Ash nervously.

"… Um…" Meowth gulped "… Guys…"

"… He's not wrong, is he…?" James nodded, looking immensely guilty to admit it.

Jessie closed her eyes and frowned, looking deeply troubled for a moment. After much thought she opened her eyes again to glower at Ash "Ok, twerp… maybe we can have some success when we're helping others… but that doesn't mean we're cut out for being good. Being Team Rocket is all we know… what are we really supposed to do when it's all gone?"

The Trio glared expectantly at Ash, whose mind was scrambling to come up with a response.

"… LANCE!" Ash exclaimed, earning three odd frowns "Lance is a G-man… I was going to get him to help me stop Team Rocket... and Looker is a G-man in this world, too!"

"Looker?" Jessie looked confused.

"I think that's the name of the lunchbox guy" Said Meowth, earning an approving finger snap from Jessie.

"Oh yeah, I remember him. From Sinnoh and Unova. I liked that guy" Jessie admitted.

James nodded "Me too"

"You guys all seemed to get along with him. And he had nice things to say about you, even though he wished you wouldn't be criminals" Ash said, glad to see their enthusiasm for the man "If you help us bring down the rest of Team Rocket, Looker and Lance can put in a good word for you and… I dunno… you can all join the G-men!"

...

Jessie, James and Meowth burst out into prolongued, hysterical laughter. Ash lowered his head and sighed.

"… It sounded like a good idea to me…" Ash said sadly. Shortly after, the Trio abruptly stopped laughing and shared curious looks with one another.

"… You know Jess…" James started, scratching his chin and looking upwards "… That's not a TERRIBLE idea, now that I think about it… The G-men probably pay a good salary, at least…"

"It's a nonsense idea!" Jessie shouted, stamping a foot "Can you honestly imagine us as a bunch of Government lackeys!? Us, as a wandering band of heroes fighting injustice and saving the world from criminals instead of causing crimes?!"

"I dunno, it seemed to work out pretty fine for that version of us from the world with the weird green skies" Meowth chimed in. Jessie gave him an irritable look.

"We all agreed to never discuss that" Jessie said through gritted teeth.

There was yet another long pause as Jessie, James and Meowth all just stood around and looked thoughtful. Then suddenly, a light bulb appeared over James's head and he rounded on Ash.

"Hey, hold on a moment…" James said, eyeing Ash suspiciously "… You say the world got changed by this… Beyonder, fellow. And you're trying to put it all back to normal, right?"

"Yes" Ash slowly nodded, a bit apprehensive at where this might be going.

"Well then… if we do help you beat Team Rocket" James said. Meowth and Jessie looked curiously at him "And supposing you DO win this bet somehow… won't everything go back to the way it was before we all got sent back in time? Team Rocket will still be around six years from now, we'll still be in it, and everything will be right back to the usual routine?"

Meowth and Jessie gawked at James, rounding on the stunned Ash with accusatory glares.

"Hey, yeah, James is right!" Spat Meowth.

"Even if we took you up on your little "Let's join the G-men" idea, at the end of the day it wouldn't matter because we'd lose those jobs the instant the world snaps back to normal. We'll gain nothing!" Jessie said indignantly.

Ash gulped, wondering how he'd let that little detail slip past himself. He laughed awkwardly, inching backwards as the Rocket Trio started shooting him accusatory glares.

 _'This is getting awkward really fast._ _I_ _need to think of something'_ Ash thought to himself. Tapping his chin, he hastily offered the following suggestion "Well… in that case, why not still help me anyway? You wouldn't… REALLY be betraying Team Rocket if they'd just be around as normal when we're back to our timeline… no one would probably know what you did. We could save the world, and you could go about your trying-to-steal business. It's not… really betraying Team Rocket, when this isn't really our world to begin with, right? Right?"

The Trio continued to glare at Ash, but much more thoughtfully now.

"I guess that's a fair point" James said, scratching his chin "Stopping Team Rocket… so that Team Rocket can still conquer the world when it's not in peril… does that make sense to you guys?"

"Not really" Meowth shrugged "But… it's probably necessary, anyway? Hmm… doesn't feel right at all though, betraying Team Rocket in any world"

"It's still our world though. Just…" Jessie waved her hand awkwardly "… Different. It's the same world, just changed… so in a way, it's still our Team Rocket we'd be betraying… could we really go back to the way things were, knowing we had a hand in betraying the boss and causing Team Rocket's downfall?"

"You could stay good?" Ash offered. In response to the Trio's bemused expressions he elaborated "Think of it this way… help me stop Team Rocket in this timeline, to set the world back to normal. You can be the good guys for a while, join the G-men, see how that kind of life feels to you… and then when we go back to our time, well… you can decide whether you're happy being in Team Rocket, or help us stop them again for real and be good guys for real if that's what you decide you really want for yourselves"

The Trio's expressions were all unreadable now.

"… We didn't say we were going to help you yet" Jessie said quietly. Ash grinned at her.

"We all know you will. When the world's really in trouble and there's no other choice, you always agree to help out. You can't say no, or we're all probably doomed… and then there's no future for Team Rocket anyway" Ash said. He took great satisfaction in how horrified the Trio looked at that, knowing for sure he finally had their numbers.

"… … That's…" Meowth grunted, truly at a loss for words. James wasn't.

"How do we know this all isn't some kind of trick? Like your twerp friend Goh is standing right outside that door using a psychic type Pokemon to give us false memories or something, to confuse us into doing your bidding?"

"How in the world else do you explain Koffing and Ekans over there then?" Ash gestured at the caged Pokemon in the corner of the store room. Jessie and James blinked at them, then let out loud gasps of realization and dropped down to get a closer look.

"Wait… EKANS!" Jessie screeched, tears welling in her eyes.

"KOFFING!" James yelled, already crying. Meowth pushed past him and Jessie.

"Hold on a minute" Said Meowth, unsheaving a claw and sticking it into the keyhole of Ekans' cage. Seconds later it let out a loud click. He did the same thing to Koffings', and after hearing the click, he opened both cages, letting Jessie and James pull out their respective Pokemon, holding them up to their faces so they could look closely into their eyes. Smiles lit up the two trainers' faces.

"It really is… Koffing" James sighed, stifling a sob.

"Ekans… you feel so real" Jessie said in a dreamy voice "You… you can't be an illusion… you're really my Ekans… not Arbok, but Ekans before you evolved…"

"We've…" James started, finding it ever harder to hold back his emotions.

"We've missed you!" Jessie and James declared in unison. Fully bursting out into tears, the Rockets pulled their Pokemon closer to hug them. Koffing and Ekans looked baffled by their reactions and everything they were saying, but did nothing to protest or resist the sudden affection.

Ash couldn't help but smile warmly at them. Suddenly, for just a moment… redeeming the Trio really didn't seem like such a crazy idea.

That was when Misty opened the door slightly and peeked in.

"Ash, Officer Jenny is here. She's talking with Nurse Joy, she'll be in here in a… huh?" Misty balked at the sight of the unrestrained Jessie and James hugging their Pokemon. Seconds later her words registered with them, and they stared at Misty with horrified expressions. Misty looked desperately to Ash, who motioned for her to back away and close the door. Which, to her credit, she did.

Jessie, James and Meowth started to flail around in a panic.

"Oh no! It's all over!" Meowth screamed.

"I don't want to go to jail! I just got Koffing back!"

"HEY!" Ash yelled. The Trio immediately stopped, staring blankly at him. Ash sighed heavily "Look… about helping me stop Team Rocket… you don't have to give me an answer right away. I'll let you escape now, and you can all go think long and hard about everything we talked about. Come meet us in Viridian Forest later, or wherever else you want"

Ash crossed his arms once more and gave the Trio a firm glare "But I'm going to bring down Team Rocket whether you're in on it or not… you have two choices. Try and go back to being crooks and screwing around with me and my friends, knowing you're putting the whole world in danger, and get arrested when we beat you all anyway… or help us, and see what it's like to be the good guys for a while. You can figure out what that means to you and what you want to do after the world goes back to normal later. How does that all sound to you?"

The Trio just stared blankly at Ash.

"… How do we escape, though?" James asked cluelessly. Ash resisted the urge to facepalm and pointed irritably at Koffing, giving James an _'Are you for real?'_ look. James looked down at his Pokemon uncertainly for a moment, then blinked in realisation "… Oh, right! Koffing, use Smokescreen! Let out every last puff of smoke you have in you!"

"Koffing!"

Koffing floated forward and obliged, and seconds later the room was completely shrouded in a thick, blackish-brown fog. Holding his breath, Ash felt the Trio rush past him and heard the door slam open.

The smokescreen rushed out into the entrance hall of the Pokemon center, taking Misty, Nurse Joy and the recently present Officer Jenny by surprise as they soon found themselves blinded by the fog. Ash stumbled out of the store room to join them. When the fog cleared, Team Rocket was gone.

Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy looked around frantically, eventually stopping to give Ash befuddled looks.

"What happened!?" Officer Jenny demanded. Ash gulped.

"I…" Ash hesitated "… I don't know what happened. I turned around one moment to read a text message, and when I turned back Meowth had cut Jessie, James and himself free and jumped me. Then Koffing used smokescreen, and… I'm sorry, I didn't have Pikachu with me, there was nothing I could do"

"Don't blame yourself… it's my fault" Nurse Joy sighed, lowering her head shamefully "Chansey and I should have kept an eye on the criminals. It was too much to ask of you to do it alone. It's not your fault"

"Whose fault it is doesn't matter right now" Officer Jenny shook her head, pulling out a walkie-talkie "Attention all units! Converge around the Pokemon Center immediately! We've got Team Rocket grunts on the loose, apprehend them at all cost!"

Misty watched Officer Jenny run out the automatic doors furiously. When Nurse Joy's back was turn, she met Ash with an accusatory stare.

"What did you do?" Misty asked. Ash let out a tired sigh.

"Hopefully… the right thing"

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog stopped on a roof not too far from the Pokemon Center, scratching his nose thoughtfully. He had just finished examining every square inch of Viridian City and the surrounding areas, and found no trace of any other Team Rocket agents besides the trio he had just apprehended.

Granted, he couldn't actually be completely sure of that. He hadn't looked inside any buildings other than places like community centres or other buildings freely open to the public. He didn't exactly have a warrant to go randomly searching everyone's homes out of nowhere, so Sonic didn't want to go invading people's private property even if it might have uncovered more crooks for him to bring to justice.

He also pondered whether maybe there were Team Rocket agents around, but they were all in hot air balloons too and hiding behind some clouds in the sky, so he just hadn't spotted them (Perhaps they were a signature vehicle of Kanto Rockets?). Tails was the one with the Tornado, and he was probably closing in on Vermilion City by now or already there, so he couldn't check that either.

So, yeah. Not as thorough a search as Sonic would have liked, but it would have to do. At the very least, he'd caught those three grunts that Officer Jenny had been looking for. The people of Kanto could at least sleep quietly tonight knowing that they had a few less Pokemon thieves to worry about.

Maybe Sonic had even hit the heroic jackpot, and he would find out later those three were Team Rocket's greatest agents in Kanto and this would be a huge setback for them. That would be something, right?

Sonic was just thinking he should probably check in on the situation with those three when the communicator on his wrist started buzzing again. Answering it, Sonic was greeted by the face of a yellow fox with big blue eyes and a white muzzle. He smiled at him.

"Hey Tails, everything good?" Sonic greeted. The fox looked serious.

"I was just on my way to Vermillion City, when suddenly my computer picked up a sudden spike of chaos energy" Tails explained. Sonic raised an eyebrow, suddenly very interested "I'm not sure, but it could be that someone found a chaos emerald on route eleven and set it off. Or, maybe it's one of Eggman's robots, I can't be sure, but I'm going to investigate. I thought I should let you know"

"Ooh, sounds juicy" Sonic said, grinning eagerly at the yellow fox "Need a hand then?"

"I'm probably fine, I'm already en route" Tails replied "If it is an Eggman robot though, I could always use backup. I'll probably be fine with the tornado, badniks aren't a big problem, but Eggman's been off the grid for a while. If it does have something to do with him, it could be a trap or he'd have some kind of new dangerous mech. Best not to take too many chances if chaos energy's involved"

Sonic nodded "No sweat, little bro. I'll be there. Might take me two hours, but I'll get there"

"Right, thanks Sonic" Tails said with a happy smile "I don't think it's Eggman, it's more likely an emerald. My predictions did suggest one might land in Kanto after you last went Super Sonic, but given that Eggman might be in Kanto we can't be too careful"

"Never hurts to be prepared. And nobodies a match for the two of us together, right?" Sonic asked with a cocky smirk. Tails gave him a thumbs up.

"You know it. So, I can expect to see you soon?" Tails asked.

"Sure thing" Sonic said, briefly doing some stretches with his free arm "Kinda hope it's Eggman. I could use a real workout before bed, those Rockets were way too easy"

"We'll find out. See you Sonic" Tails said with a wave.

"Later" Sonic waved back before the screen on his communicator went blank. He started pressing a few more buttons on the side of it, and a map of the Kanto region appeared on the screen. Checking the directions to Vermilion City, Sonic scratched his chin curiously.

"Chaos emerald, huh?" Sonic pondered aloud. Chaos Emeralds were a set of special, multi-coloured gem stones with unimaginable power stored within them. The evil Dr Eggman had used them before as part of his villainous schemes, and Sonic had also harnessed their power to fight him and a few other powerful opponents over the years.

Whenever all seven emeralds were gathered, it was said that a miracle would occur… in Sonic's case, it usually turned him gold and gave him all kinds of amazing powers. It would only last for a short time however, and then the gems would scatter across the lands.

"First time in years one's landed in Kanto, though" Sonic said curiously "Maybe Eggman just sent a scout or two to try and track it down, and he's not really here? Hmm… who knows, still gotta check it out"

Sonic grinned, getting into a sprinting position "Tails, little buddy, if there are robots there though, you better save plenty for me"

And then Sonic became a blue blur and took off. If he'd turned around and waited just ten more seconds, he would have seen the hot-air balloon shaped like a Meowth's head float by in a hurry.


	4. Hard Decisions, Fierce Robots and Old Friends

_***Somewhere** **in** **Viridian** **Forest.** **April** **1st,** **11pm***_

James and Meowth were sitting on a pair of logs besides a campfire, looking exhausted and forlorn, while Jessie paced around the clearing they had found themselves in. She held a hand to her right cheek, occasionally coming to a stop to scratch her nose before going back on the prowl. She appeared deep in thought. Once every few minutes she started to open her mouth, looking like she had something to say… and then she started pacing again.

This pattern went on for what felt like an eternity until Meowth finally took a deep breath and loudly exhaled, his sigh echoing throughout the clearing. Jessie and James glanced at him pensively, Meowth's eyes remaining locked on the flickering flames of the camp fire.

"So… what we gonna do about it, den?" Meowth asked. The clearing went quiet but for the crackling of the campfire for about a minute as Jessie and James just stared distantly at Meowth.

"… I don't know" Jessie and James said at once, shaking their heads and joining Meowth in observing the fire. Meowth put his paws together and hung his head solemnly.

Another minute of silent contemplation passed by, in which Jessie became visibliy more frustrated with each passing second, grinding her teeth and clenching her left arm. Eventually it all came to a boil with her throwing her arms into the air and unleashing a roar of pure, concentrated annoyance.

"Of all the stupid, inane, life-threatening, nonsensical misadventures that blasted Twerp could have led us on...!" Jessie clenched her outstretched fists, her arms shaking with fury she wasn't even making a token effort to suppress.

James and Meowth looked at her with forlorn expressions on their faces. Normally when Jessie's rage hit it's peak they would at least flinch and back away carefully to avoid the risk of her fury being redirected at them, but with everything else on their minds right now James and Meowth couldn't even be bothered to react.

Not that they had much to worry about, as Jessie's hands quickly unclenching made clear. The purple haired woman kept glaring daggers at the heavens for a bit after, the look on her face now more bitter and "Beyond done with this nonsense" than furious.

Whatever Jessie had meant to say to finish that last sentence seemed to have escaped her, so instead she grumbled "It's not like the Twerp and that lousy bed-wetter guy are giving us much option anyway… we're damned if we do nothing to help him succeed in putting the world back to normal… and we could be damned if we do help him if anything goes wrong, come to think of it. It's ridiculous, we're being forced to make a decision over a barrel here!"

"What're da odds dis really is an illusion like James said? Maybe that Mismagius from Sinnoh tracked us down for round two?" Meowth suggested half-heartedly. Jessie and James hummed quietly, glancing down at Ekans and Koffing, who were curled up together and sleeping by the log James and Meowth were sat on. The human Rockets shook their heads.

"No, no… that would be too easy" James insisted, tapping the log with both hands and scrunching up his face in contemplation. His expression relaxed after a few seconds, and he tapped his lips. It was in a bargaining tone that he added "... Maybe we're over thinking all of this? The world's going to go back to normal as soon as the Twerp deals with the Beyonder creature, and like he said, we've swallowed our criminal pride to work with him before to save the world. This wouldn't be... TOO different from all those other times, right? I mean, we've even gone against our fellow Team Rocket agents before, so even that part's nothing new"

"There's a big difference between meddling in Biff and Cassidy or Domino's schemes and keeping Mewtwo a secret, and causing the TOTAL DOWNFALL of Team Rocket!" Jessie yelled, waving her hands irritably. She then put her hands on her hips and added "Even if things go back to normal, we could never live that down..."

James scratched the side of the log he and Meowth were sat on, looking contemplative. He shrugged weakly "... We could always stay out of the Rocket foiling business, and just help the Twerp take down all the other evil teams? How's that for a compromise?"

Jessie narrowed her eyes at the blue haired man, humming loudly. She scratched her nose and turned her gaze upwards, looking thoughtful.

"Hmm... the lazy centrist option, eh?" Jessie mused. A crooked smile crept over her face, and she gave an amused shrug "Yes... I suppose I could live with that"

Jessie snorted. Her lip quivered for a moment before she burst out in hysterical laughter. James and Meowth raised their eyebrows at her, unsure how to react to the sudden mood shift.

"Yes, yes of course. Such an obvious answer, why didn't I think of it" Jessie said, playfully slapping the side of her head "We don't need to help the Twerp with EVERY little problem, just enough to get us through this weird mess! And we can even take advantage of that stupid peace offering of his by joining the G-Men, pretending we've turned good so we can enjoy all the luxuries that come with the jobs..."

Jessie's smile grew increasingly devious as she stretched out her left hand towards her sitting teammates, then clenched her right hand into a fist which she began circling through the air above the open left palm.

"The Twerp will be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking we've long since renounced our criminal ways. So then, when the world and Team Rocket as we know it are restored, we'll invite him over to our lair for a "Friendly chat" aaaand-" She slammed her fist down against her palm "BAM! We catch him off guard and steal Pikachu once and for all! VICTORY IS OURS AT LAST! MWAHAHA!"

James and Meowth blinked up at their long haired companion, their expressions blank and unreadable for a long time after that exclamation. Eventually James made to scratch his chin.

"Yes..." James said distantly. He chuckled half heartedly, scratching his head "Yes, that sounds... it could work, I guess..."

"It'll work perfectly" Jessie said, rubbing her hands together with a scheming look on her face "Why be good guys, when we can be successful villains!"

Jessie broke out in a renewed chorus of hysterical, wicked laughter, this time quickly joined in by James.

Meowth didn't chime in. Nor did he even put in the token effort of wearing a fake smile through it all like James was doing.

For a full minute, Meowth just pensively watched his human companions laugh it out. James's chortling sounded noticeably awkward and phoned in compared to Jessie's... though interestingly enough, Jessie's laughter grew more strained as she carried on, and despite the strong effort to look like she was totally into her evil plan, Meowth knew her well enough that he could tell from a single look at her eyes she really wasn't.

Meowth put his paws to the wood on either side of him and sunk his claws into the log, feeling a swarm of Butterfree take flight in the pit of his stomach as the forced laughter slowly subsided, leaving the camp site eerily quiet. Even the campfire seemed to have stopped crackling.

Meowth kept his gaze on the flickering flames, not daring to look back at his friends.

He didn't know if he should ask the obvious question on all of their minds. But somehow, he found the courage to do so anyway.

"... An' what if we _wanna_ be the good guys... _for real...?"_

A cool breeze passed through the clearing. Jessie and James's awkwardly grinning faces became hidden in shadows for a brief moment as the flames of the campfire blew over to one side.

When the fire rose back up and illuminated the Rockets once more, Jessie and James were shown to now look apprehensive, almost like their hearts had stopped for a moment after those words left their Pokemon companion's lips.

Meowth watched their expressions shift into curious, imploring stares directed at him. The charm wearing cat just frowned, retracting his claws and tapping the log uneasily.

"..." James hesitated, his expression slowly softening "... Do you... want to be good?"

Meowth looked away from James, shrugging casually despite himself.

"... I dunno..." Meowth said, looking up at the moon "... Might not be so bad...?"

James clenched his teeth, staring blankly at his old chum.

Jessie on the other hand looked almost offended.

"You can't be serious..." Jessie said, putting one hand on her hip and waving the other hand around incredulously, urging Meowth to elaborate.

The white cat put his paws on his legs and started slowly kicking his feet back and forth, still staring at the moon.

"... I'm just sayin'... what if the Twoihp has a point?" Meowth mused, a wistful look in his eyes "... What if we're better cut out for savin' da world instead'a taking over it? What if life as the good guys is more fulfilling than gettin' blasted off all tha time?"

Meowth lower his head, closed his eyes and looked meditative for a moment. When he turned back to his teammates, James looked deeply conflicted and Jessie rather concerned. Though not as angry as she seemed a moment prior.

"... What if... what if we really do end up liking being on the Twoihp's side... and when the world's back to normal, we just don't wanna go back ta the old routine?"

James put his hands to his chin, looking up thoughtfully, while Jessie's eyes darted back and forth frantically. She grinded her teeth, and Meowth blinked curiously at her before rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Try an ignore it all ya want, but we ain't just been twiddlin' our thumbs t'inking about campfire songs tha past couple'a hours. You guys've been wondering da same t'ing" Meowth said plainly.

Jessie pursed her lips, turning away from Meowth and heaving a bitter sigh.

"So maybe we've all thought about quitting once in a while when the chips are down" Jessie said, a note of defiance in her voice. She crossed her arms "It never works out. We always keep coming back... Team Rocket is where we belong! We LIKE being evil!"

Jessie stamped her foot and raised a fist into the air at that declaration. But her haughty demeanor was short lived, and after a moment of uncomfortable silence Jessie's outstretched fist began to tremble, along with her lip.

"... Don't we...?"

There was a note of desperation in the abnormally soft voice Jessie had asked that, and the looks she gave to her two teammates right after seemed to be almost begging them for vindication.

James and Meowth didn't offer her any. They just stared blankly into space.

"... I wonder, though...?" James uttered gingerly, earning his companions undivided attention. He briefly glanced between them, then raised his hands from his chin to cover his cheeks as he looked down at the campfire.

"... Is it really Team Rocket... being evil we liked so much... or did we just like being together, and being in Team Rocket was a convenient way to get by while always being a team?"

Jessie and Meowth's eyes seemed to glaze over at that suggestion.

When neither of them responded after about five minutes, James chuckled awkwardly and meekly added "Just a thought... I-"

"I t'ink..." Meowth interrupted, holding his paws together "I t'ink youse might just be onta somethin' dere, Jimbo"

James and Jessie turned swiftly to their feline friend, who had extended one of his claws to scratch his chin, humming thoughtfully as he seemed to be trying to recall something.

"... Back in da Orange Islands, there was an island full'a locals who t'ought I was some great Meowth of bounty" Meowth said, as much to himself as the other Rockets "Dey treated me like royalty, and it was pretty sweet... I loved all the attention, and I felt like I could'a stayed dere forever... at least until I realized what a big dope I was being, shoving youse two aside to try and keep livin' dat life"

Meowth frowned, looking deeply ashamed of himself over those actions. But then a sad smile slowly crept up his face "... Bein' pampered and adored by lots'a people is nice an' all... but I realized dat day... bein' with you two was what really made me happy! People and Pokemon always t'ought I was a freak, back in tha day... but you two always had my back and cared about me for whose I was, and not just wut I could do fer ya"

"It wuz da same t'ing in Sinnoh, when Christopher offered me a job makin' noodles... I enjoyed that. It felt really fulfillin', and at the time I t'ought I could really spend da rest'a my life doing dat... but I came back ta Team Rocket for you guys, because youse needed me... and I needed you"

Meowth's eyes started to water a little as he looked at Jessie and James with a proud grin.

"Sometimes I wonder... wut life could'a been like if I stayed... I still t'ink I could'a been happy makin' noodles, instead'a stealing Pokemon. But I don't regret it... because bein' wit' you guys means more ta me than anyt'ing. Sure, bein' evil has it's thrills, and I would like ta earn da Boss's respect an' sit on his lap someday... but James... James is kinda right. T'inking about it... I could live without any of that stuff. So long as I'm with you two... I t'ink I'd still be happy, no matter what I'm doing"

"Meowth..." Jessie whispered, staring distantly at her small friend. While James was struggling not to cry over that touching speech, Jessie put a hand over her heart, closed her eyes and breathed in. She let out a calm sigh, smiling softly as she opened her eyes again.

"... It's the same thing with me... you two are what keep me coming back"

James and Meowth craned their heads curiously at her, and Jessie just held her head up, letting her hair blow in the evening breeze.

"Back in Kalos, when I met that handsome doctor, I really thought for a moment I was going to settle down with him... it turned out he loved someone else of course, so it wouldn't have worked out whatever I did. But, really... I was already feeling conflicted, and thinking I should come back anyway. If I'm being totally honest with myself... even if there was a chance that man would have loved me back, I would have chosen to stay in Team Rocket instead anyway"

Jessie looked down at the stunned faces of her companions, to whom she gave an appreciative smirk.

"Finding love has always been a beautiful dream of course... but you two are my family. The domestic life looked all well and good, sure, but it just wouldn't have been worth it if you two weren't there"

"Jessie..." James whimpered.

"You really do have a heart" Meowth laughed.

Jessie rolled her eyes playfully, wagging a finger at the talking cat "Don't even think about rubbing it in if you know what's good for you"

The Trio giggled lightly over that bit of snark, then fell silent for a moment, James putting his hands together and looking contemplative.

"I never needed a big reminder. I've always known my place was with you two" James said boastfully. Jessie and Meowth shot him teasing smirks, the looks in their eyes screaming "Oh, really!?". James scratched his knuckles and chuckled sheepishly at them, then narrowed his eyes seriously.

"But you know... there were times that made me question whether stealing Pokemon was what we should be really doing" James said "... Do you remember that town we landed in around the start of our Hoenn adventure? The one we saved from a robot by a mad scientist it turned out wasn't really so mad at all?"

Meowth and Jessie scratched their chins, humming thoughtfully as they tried to recall their first few weeks in Hoenn. Jessie frowned as the probable answer came to her, and rolled her eyes.

"You mean the village full of yokels who were convinced old tv shows are real and we were a team of superheroes called Team Righteous?"

"That's the place" James said, making a "Bingo" gesture "Those people were a bit odd... but honestly, by the end of it all... I kind of liked the thought of settling down and being their heroes. We're so used to people treating us like the scoundrels we are, so it was nice to have so many people respect and admire us for a change"

James put a finger against the log and circled a small gap in the wood with it "We spotted the Twerps soon after and things went back to normal, and I was fine with that... but to tell you the truth, every now and again over the years... I did wonder if maybe turning over a new leaf was a viable option for us"

Jessie and Meowth raised their eyebrows at James, and he shrugged casually.

"Frustrations with our constant failures aside, I do enjoy the criminal lifestyle. It beats the miserably boring and proper high society life by a mile and there's a certain thrill in stealing. And I do think it would be fun to rule the world" James said, running his fingers through the back of his hair and smiling devilishly. It softened into a relaxed, almost wistful smile.

"... But honestly... now that I really have to think about Team Rocket as a whole just being gone... I feel like I can really live without it. I'm with Meowth, having companions like you two really was the highlight of it all. And I think I could feel just as fulfilled doing good things with you guys instead... the Twerp did raise a good point. We do seem to have a better track record with good deeds compared to evil ones, and it does get demotivating constantly blasting off... maybe it is worth a try?"

Jessie put a finger against her right cheek and pursed her lips, thinking deeply. James noticed that the side of her lips seemed to be quivering, as though she was struggling not to smirk or show too positive a reaction.

After a long moment of silence Jessie sighed heavily and shook her hand.

"What if he's wrong, though?" Jessie said almost anxiously "... What if all those times we did those good deeds were flukes? Or that most of them only worked out so well because it was the Twerps we were helping specifically, and we're actually just as bad if not worse at being good guys as we are villains? We've screwed up at as many of those part time jobs we've taken up before as ones we actually did pretty good at, after all"

"Team Rocket at least keeps us employed and with the resources we need to get by, inexplicably despite everything... what if we did leave Team Rocket when we get back to our timeline to be G-men there, or whatever other "Good guy job" is an option, and then fail at it?" Jessie pondered, scratching her wrist "We certainly wouldn't be able to go back to Team Rocket then... so what else could we possibly do to survive?"

"We could always go back ta Alola and live wit' Bewear?" Meowth offered casually. Noticing his teammates blinking at him in surprise, he smirked and shrugged his shoulders "Bewear always took real good care'a us, and our base in her tree was a nice, cozy place ta live. So why not?"

Jessie open her mouth and raised a finger, but her response seemed to get caught in her throat. She rubbed her nose and carefully mulled the suggestion over.

"... You know" Jessie began, laughing a little "That doesn't actually sound too bad? Free lodge, free food, a loving parental figure... it was a pretty good life, back in Alola, wasn't it?"

"We could start our malasada stand back up to make some extra cash" James suggested, looking like he was getting really into the idea "We could maybe even go find all our old Pokemon first and bring them with us! Just imagine what a pleasant, peaceful little life we could all have there?"

"It probably wouldn't be glamorous enough to match my ideal lifestyle" Jessie said, crossing her arms. She shook her head and smirked "But, there was a movie studio in Alola... if we all didn't have to dedicate so much time to stealing Pokemon, I could really buckle down and focus on getting my career as a super star actress off the ground"

"And maybe I could finally find some cute lady Pokemon ta love!" Meowth speculated with a dreamy grin.

"And I could dedicate more time to my hobbies, like replacing all the bottle caps I've lost or were destroyed over the years" James said hopefully.

Jessie blinked, looking between her two teammates and taking note of just how excited they were getting over this whole conversation. With an embarrassed snort, Jessie slapped the side of her face and laughed derisively.

"Just look at us! We're all actually getting into the idea of quitting villainy so easily. Just what would the boss think if he saw us right now" Jessie said, laughing some more "We really are a couple of self-serving, treacherous snakes, aren't we?"

The Rocket Trio exchanged cheeky grins, then burst out into hysterical laughter that lasted a whole minute, which caused Ekans and Koffing to stir and turn over in their sleep.

When they had all calmed down a bit, Meowth smirked mischievously and shrugged his paws "So we all agree we can live without bein' evil... how's about we really do give bein' good a shot den? By da sounds of it, we's got PLENTY of time before the world goes back to normal, so we don't gotta make any big lastin' decisions straight away, right? We can figure out wut we're gonna do about the rest'a Team Rocket in this timeline later, but otherwise let's help the Twoihp save the world and see if we really do enjoy bein' good guys. If we don't den it won't matter, we can still carry on bein' Team Rocket eventually... and if we do enjoy it, den that's fine too, and we's got Bewear to fall back on. How's dat sound?"

"It's not like we really have anything better to do after all, or other options that don't potentially hurt the Twerp's chances and doom the world, so... yes, why not" James nodded in agreement "Let's just bite the bullet and see where being circumstantial Twerp allies takes us. Really, what do we have to lose?"

Jessie's eyes widened at that last word choice, and she pursed her lips, suddenly thoughtful. Her eyes narrowed, and Jessie began grinding her teeth, a palpable sense of bitter fury radiating off of her that caused James and Meowth to flinch and look at her questionably.

"... Our pride"

James and Meowth blinked, cocking their heads at Jessie, who stamped her foot and stood tall over her partners.

"... Back at the Pokemon Center... the Twerp said we had no hope of ever stealing his Pikachu... he talked to us like we were a bunch of hopeless LOSERS!" Jessie growled, a fire burning in her eyes "... If we just go ahead and quit... we'll be proving him right! All the years we spend hounding him and his friends... all the blood, sweat and tears we put into being great villains... it'll all amount to NOTHING! How PATHETIC would we all look!?"

James and Meowth stared slackjawed at Jessie for a moment afterwards. Then their eyes narrowed too and they began to growl furiously.

"... You're right!" James yelled indignantly "The Twerps... Botch and Cassidy, and so many other people have been looking down on us and calling us failures since practically the beginning... the thought of validating them DOES piss me off!"

"All those schemes, all the hours spent planning evil deeds... only to keep gettin' sent blastin' off..." Meowth spat, trembling with fury and unconsciously unsheaving his claws "... After all da work we put inta bein' successful bad guys... it ain't FAIR we're bein' told ta call it quits jus' like that! WE DESERVE TO PULL OFF AT LEAST ONE SUCCESSFUL HEIST, DAMN IT!"

The Rocket Trio began breathing heavily, trembling with rage. Years of built up resentment bubbled up to the surface of their minds, and their faces turned red. James and Meowth shot to their feet, and together with Jessie they threw up their hands and roared to the heavens.

Koffing and Ekans were startled awake by their screams, and quickly hid behind the log James and Meowth had just been sitting on.

Jessie, James and Meowth panted heavily. For a long time they were too overcome with bitter fury to speak coherently, so just stood there exchanging death glares and annoyed growls.

James was the first to calm down just barely enough to think straight, at which point he held a tightly clenched fist in front of his face and yelled "I don't care how satisfying being one of the good guys is... if it means giving the blasted Twerp the satisfaction of being right about us, it's not worth it! I know we can't go messing with him too much right now, or the world is doomed, but... but surely there's SOME WAY to prove everyone wrong! There MUST be a way to prove it's possible for us to beat the Twerp!"

Jessie's face suddenly went blank.

Slowly, the purple haired woman raised a finger to her lip, and her face contorted into a frown of deep contemplation.

James and Meowth balked at Jessie as a wicked grin spread over her face.

"..." James blinked curiously at Jessie, before a similarly devious smile crept up his own cheeks "... You're concocting an evil scheme, aren't you?"

Jessie winked at James, then closed her eyes and frowned harder. After a few minutes of sorting out the full details of her sudden stroke of genius, Jessie's eyes shot back open and she began rubbing her hands together fiendishly, maniacal laughter escaping her lips.

"... Do you two remember what Gym the Twerp challenged for his eighth Kanto Gym Badge?" Jessie prompted. James and Meowth scratched their chins, curious where she was going with that.

"The Viridian Gym, I t'ink" Meowth said "Same one da Boss use'ta run, but he was busy with somet'in' when the Twoihp stopped by so he had-" Meowth paused, eyes widening in realization. He giggled mischievously "... Oooh"

Jessie's evil grin evolved to full on slasher movie villain proportions.

"I don't know what it was that caused the boss to leave the Gym so suddenly. But if this timeline is close enough to our old one and we time things right, we should have the perfect opportunity to battle the Twerp at his full strength" Jessie explained, commanding her male cohorts full attentions.

"So... how's this sound to you two? I propose we go on a training journey... catch ourselves a full team of tough Pokemon, train them up to the best of our abilities... and when the time comes for the Twerp to challenge the Viridian Gym, we'll THROTTLE his entire Team"

Jessie laughed like a noblewoman, wagging a finger in front of her teammates afterwards "If the Twerp can manage to improve himself over time with hard training and achieve his goals... then why the hell can't we? We'll beat the Twerp at his own game: A fair Pokemon battle! That'll prove once and for all it's possible for us to beat him! So when this whole world-changing nonsense is sorted out, we can return to our timeline with confidence that the day of the Twerp's final defeat is at hand!"

James and Meowth were grinning ear to ear, eyes shining with anticipation.

"Yes..." James said, cackling maniacally "... YES! I like it!"

"Dat may just be the greatest plan I's ever heard!" Meowth said, rubbing his paws together greedily "Jus' Imagine da look on the Twoips's face when you twos beat him in a fair fight! His idiot brain might just explode!"

"It'll be the ultimate vindication!" Jessie declared, extending her arm up to the heavens and grasping at the sky "No one will ever be able to call us losers ever again!"

Meowth and James chuckled heartily, absolutely giddy with anticipation. Meowth abruptly stopped after about half a minute though, his voice briefly getting caught in his throat after a worrisome prospect intruded into his mind.

"... what if we lose, doe?" Meowth asked tepidly.

The scheming grin was smacked right off Jessie's face at that suggestion, and she had to quickly look the other way from Meowth to hide her terrified grimace.

...

...

Jessie sighed wearily.

"If that happens... then we'll call it quits" Jessie reluctantly admitted. James and Meowth looked worried "... If we can't beat him, after actually working hard to be the best Team Rocket we can be... perhaps that'll be a sign that we really should just give it all up, and go live with Bewear. Or something"

Jessie quickly snapped back to being aggressively confident, as a fire lit back up in her eyes "But that won't happen! We WILL get stronger! We WILL beat the Twerp!"

"YES! Let's do it!" James passionately declared, eyes also on fire "Let's show everyone just how competent we really are! Make them all regret ever looking down on us!"

Jessie, James and Meowth looked at one another, cackling maniacally.

Jessie held out a hand, motioning down at it towards James. The blue haired man nodded curtly, and put his own hand on top of hers.

Meowth stretched out his arm... then raised his eyebrows. An annoyed scowl spread across his face.

"Um... hello!"

Jessie and James sweat dropped, chuckling nervously before dropping to their knees so Meowth could put his paw on top of their hands.

Koffing and Ekans peeked over from behind their log, watching curiously as their masters and fellow Rocket Pokemon exchanged dangerous smiles.

"Watch out, Twerp" Jessie said with cruel anticipation "When we're through with you, you're going to regret restoring our memories!"

* * *

_***Route** **11, 10:30pm** **that** **same** **night***_

The Land immediately East of Vermilion City consisted of a vast field, filled with long grass, bushes and other kinds of foliage that wild Pokemon could be found hiding in. Large mountains to the North stretched out for a mile or two past the entrance to Rock Tunnel, and a thick forest for many more miles beyond it. A similar row of trees closely spaced together lined the southern area of the route, creating the feeling of a straight path of great, untamed wilderness that at first glance looked like it went on forever.

One could travel nearly a whole week along Route eleven on foot without bearing witness to any sign of civilisation until eventually the sight of the coastal town of Porta Vista became visible in the distance.

It was a fairly popular route with new trainers from Vermilion City and nearby towns to venture through to catch Pokemon and train the ones they had already. It was also inexplicably a popular meeting place for people who loved to gamble, for some reason.

On a cold, breezy evening like this though, you wouldn't find any trainers wandering about currently. But if you went to a small clearing ten minutes away from Rock Tunnel where the grass grew to a length where small children couldn't hide in it, you would find a ten year old, anthropomorphic fox with two tails, standing beside a blue monoplane with yellow highlights as he examined the screen of a high-tech looking laptop he was holding.

"Hmm… strange" The fox concluded. His name was Miles Prower, but to his friends, and most everyone else, he was better known as Tails.

"What is?" A voice suddenly asked behind Tails, who didn't even blink in surprise.

"I tracked the chaos energy readings to this exact location, but there doesn't seem to be anything here" Tails said, turning to look at the blue hedgehog who had appeared nearby mere seconds ago, holding two sticks of cotton candy "… Is one of those for me?"

"Yep" Sonic said, tossing the stick of cotton candy in his right hand over to Tails, who caught it expertly in his right hand as he continued holding the laptop with his left.

"Thanks" Tails said, taking a quick bite of the pink floss.

"It's an apology for being late. I got a bit lost in Saffron, the place is a maze. Should have just gone around it" Sonic said, looking very annoyed.

Tails quickly gulped down the candy in his mouth "… You're not that much later than you said you'd be. Most people can't run from Viridian City to Vermilion in just over two hours"

"Yeah, well…" Sonic shook his head "So, what's your take on things?"

"If it was a chaos emerald suddenly being disturbed in some way, I'd be able to track it from here now. When chaos emeralds are set off, they radiate energy for several hours afterwards. I picked up a trace of chaos energy from this route nearly three hours ago, and I've set the Freedom Fighter satellites to scan the entire area between Vermilion and Porta Vista, and a few miles into the forests beyond. I've picked up nothing since. If a person or Pokemon found the emerald and took it with them, they couldn't have gotten out of reach for my chaos scanners to not track them. Unless they're as fast as you…"

"Metal?" Sonic offered, frowning. Tails shrugged.

"Maybe, but looking back over the data again, the spike in activity lasted very briefly and doesn't seem to have covered a great distance" Tails said, looking back at the screen of the laptop "So, unless maybe it was an Abra teleporting away with it, I'm willing to rule out that the reading was a chaos emerald. I'm sure there's one in this region somewhere, but looking back over my predictions, I think it would have landed further North. It's not impossible it could have landed somewhere around here, I just don't think so anymore"

"Interesting" Sonic said, spinning around his stick of cotton candy and rapidly eating the entire top half of it "Mmm… wait, teleporting huh? Sounds like Shadow to me"

"Almost certainly not" Tails shook his head "I checked in with Sally, he and Team Dark are on a mission in Unova for the G-men. He can't teleport this far without an emerald handy, and as far as we know the G-men don't have any at the moment. The only ones accounted for so far are the two we have in our custody"

"Ah, right… so, robots?" Sonic asked, grinning eagerly.

Tails placed the laptop against the wing of the blue plane, which Sonic had dubbed The Tornado. After a few more quick bites of cotton candy, Tails' twin namesakes began to spin around like a propeller. He began floating upwards, and ceased spinning his tails to drop into the seat of the plane. A moment later, he jumped out of the plane and showed off an odd kind of green container housing some kind of gemstone.

"Recognise this?" Tails asked. Sonic eyed the strange item thoughtfully.

"I think Rotor called these things Chaos Drives" Sonic said, earning a nod from the younger Mobian.

"Right. They're basically batteries that Eggman created. They run on Chaos energy he's siphoned off of the Chaos Emeralds over the years" Tails said, shaking the container around, the gem inside rattling against the glass "Eggman uses them a lot to power some of his stronger robots when he doesn't feel like using small animals or Pokemon"

 _"Normally-"_ Tails put extra emphasis on that word "You can't actually track the chaos energy inside these drives from a distance unless the robot running on them is performing some kind of attack. If a badnik is just walking or floating around, the output is just too small to pick up"

"Which means what you picked up might have been an Eggman robot that was skulking around and suddenly attacked something, right?"

"That's my prevailing theory at the moment" Tails nodded. He and Sonic quickly finished their cotton candy and threw the empty sticks, along with the chaos core, up into the driver's seat of the Tornado.

"So then, the plan is we search the area for the robot and smash it, right?" Sonic asked, eagerly bumping his fists together.

"I'd recommend just searching the Route for now. Again, I don't actually know if that theory is true yet, it's just the option that seems likely, especially given we know there's been robot activity in Kanto recently" Tails said "And if there is an Eggman robot in the area, try not to smash it too badly. I'd like to take a look at its memory banks if possible. Eggman's still off the grid, so we need whatever clues we can find to track him down"

"Right. So-" Sonic held up a finger "Search the area, find the robot if there is one, break it, but don't smash it up too badly. Good plan, I like it"

"I'll take flight in the tornado and see if I can locate anything over the forests, you just worry about the valleys and fields" Tails said. He then suddenly yawned widely and rubbed his right eye.

Sonic blinked and chuckled lightly at the fox "Or, maybe you should go back to town and get some rest while I do the searching. You're a great partner Tails, but you're still a kid, you're already up WAY past your bedtime. The last thing we need is you falling asleep at the wheel"

"I can keep going" Tails said confidently. But then another loud yawn came on "… For another half hour, then maybe I should catch some sleep. I did book us a hotel for a week while we're waiting for the new G-man to arrive"

"Okay, if you say so. But don't push yourself" Sonic said seriously. Tails nodded in understanding "Alright then, let's get to-"

Sonic suddenly stopped talking, looking around carefully. Tails stared inquisitively at him "Is something wrong?"

Sonic continued looking around the area, eyes narrowed "Hmm… I thought I sensed something?"

"Like what?" Tails asked, now also on alert.

"Not sure. I just have a sixth sense for trouble" Sonic replied, taking a few steps forward and looking towards the trees that lined the front of the southern forest. He hummed thoughtfully "Get in the tornado, I'll go check in that forest. See if anything's there"

"You know a lot of those trees grow pretty close together, you might struggle to run for a while through there" Tails warned.

"I'll be fine. Just get ready to fight if there's trouble" Sonic said, kneeling down into a sprinting position. Tails nodded in affirmation, and Sonic zoomed off towards the forest.

Tails grabbed his laptop off the wing of his plane and began spinning his namesakes again and flew up into the Tornado. He'd just entered the cockpit and tucked the laptop safely beneath his seat when a loud snapping sound rang out across the fields, and when he turned in the direction of the forest he saw a blue shape flying through the air. It landed with a deafening thud by the foot of the Tornado, much to Tails's shock.

"Sonic!? Are you okay?!" Tails called to his friend, who looked slightly dazed from the impact.

"Ow… the heck just hit me?" Sonic complained, bouncing back onto his feet, shaking around unsteadily for a moment after. A purple glow suddenly emanated from the forest, and the two Mobians watched as a figure rose up above the trees and sped towards them, followed shortly after by two more figures emerging from the woods.

Sonic and Tails braced themselves as the new arrivals stopped less than a yard in front of them, Tails's eyes widening as he took in their appearance.

"Are those… Pokémon?"

"Not quite" Sonic shook his head, narrowing his eyes at his assailants.

Indeed, the beings before them looked an awful lot like Pokemon, an Alakazam and two Houndoom, to be exact. But your average Alakazam and Houndoom weren't made entirely of Metal or had solid black eyes made of glass with glowing red pupils.

The robotic Pokemon made no sound, just staring silently at Sonic and Tails. Though they were clearly incapable of making facial expressions, there was something very menacing about the glow in their eyes. It sent a shiver up Tails' spine, and made Sonic tense up and assume a fighting stance.

"They look like the pokemon equivalent of Metal Sonic" Tails noted, carefully watching the eerily silent droids stand and hover before them, still as statues as he slowly inched his finger towards a button by the side of the Tornado's steering wheel.

Sonic nodded, eyeing the robots suspisciously and making sure not to make any sudden movements that might provoke them "Metal Alakazam and Metal Houndoom, huh?" He said, chuckling lightly "Took ol' egghead six whole years to finally get the bright idea of "Hey, how about robot Pokemon?". How much you want to bet the Metal Sonic comparison is dead on, and they can copy anything a real Pokemon can do?"

"I'd say it's pretty much a guarantee" Tails said, his finger now hovering right in front of the large blue button he was reaching for.

Sonic carefully rose his head and glared up at the robotic Alakazam, its pupils seeming to flash brighter for a second as their eyes met. Sonic rolled his eyes, putting on a playful frown.

"Goody. I hate fighting psychic types" Sonic groaned. His frown quickly turned more serious "So, you said NOT to smash them up too badly, right?"

"Break them up if you have to, just try not to do anything that might blow them up, especially their heads. I just want to try and scan their memory banks. If they have as much endurance as Metal Sonic though, we can't afford to go easy on them, so don't hold back too much" Tails instructed.

Sonic grinned deviously, and he bumped his fists together "Piece of cake"

The duo of Metal Houndoom's crouched down, looking prepared to charge forward at any moment. They didn't growl, like one would expect from a normal Houndoom, but a buzzing sound did briefly ring out from them, and Sonic got the sneaking suspicion from the gleam in their eyes that they were performing some kind of a scan of him. Metal Alakazam held out the two spoons in its hands, pointing the tips of them at Sonic.

Tails slammed the blue button and quickly lowered his head next to a speaker located next to the steering wheel and yelled "Tornado: Battle mode engage!"

Metal Alakazam's eyes glowed fully red for a moment. The heads of the spoons it was wielding bent to point right at Sonic, and two blasts of psychic energy rapidly shot out of them, forming into a single large purple beam.

Narrowing his eyes, Sonic leapt into the air a split second before the blast hit him, and the psybeam instead struck the ground and scorched the grass around where he was standing.

The Metal Houndoom bounded forward like a pair of rockets and leapt up at the blue hedgehog, who began spinning in midair, forming into a spiralling ball. Kicking the air mid spin, the spinning hedgehog propelled himself forward, pinballing between the Metal Houndoom to his left into the one coming at him from the right and knocking them both back a yard. They both landed on their feet and grinded steadily to a halt however, barely phased by the assault.

Sonic uncurled himself before hitting the ground and landed in a crouching position. He was going to try for another homing attack on Metal Alakazam, but before he could make himself airborn Sonic's body froze up. He grunted, confused about his sudden immobilization at first until he looked down and noticed a purple aura around his arm.

Sonic mentally sighed before he was swiftly yanked up into the air, his body moved around so that his face was pointed towards Metal Alakazam. The Psychic-type machine seemed to glare at its captive for a moment, and Sonic gave it an annoyed look.

Metal Alakazam raised the glowing spoon in it's right hand and started twirling it around, and Sonic found himself rapidly spinning around in the air for about five seconds before being flung back a great distance. Initially landing face first into one of the thinner patches of grass in the fields that did nothing to soften the impact of hitting the ground, Sonic just barely managed to roll forward and bounce back onto his feet, only briefly dazed from the impact.

Sonic turned around to face the robotic Alakazam that was quickly flying after him. He shook his head and groaned.

"I REALLY hate fighting Psychic types. Them and their cheap grabby attacks" Sonic muttered before taking off running the opposite direction from Metal Alakazam, avoiding another psybeam as he did so, opting to keep his distance from the fake Pokemon and watch for an opening.

The Metal Houndooms watched the apparent leader of their enterouge take after Sonic briefly before rounding on the tornado, which had quickly morphed its shape. Normally a plane, the Tornado MK 3 had now traded its wings in for a pair of legs, while the propeller normally at the front of the plane was gone, leaving a large indent above which stood some kind of small cannon. A similar but larger cannon was located atop the plane above the driver's seat of the newly transformed mech.

The robo-dogs stared blankly at the transformed Tornado, or as Tails dubbed it in its mech form, the Cyclone. From the drivers seat Tails glared at the robots, locking the mech's weapons onto them. The Metal Houndooms wasted no time bounding towards the Cyclone, only to be knocked back by two large blue energy blasts from the topmost cannon.

The Metal Houndoom to the right flipped backwards in midair, launching a fire blast at the mech. Tails' eyes widened and he quickly pushed forward on the steering wheel to make the mech run forward. He just about avoided the fire blast, only for the other Metal Houndoom to tackle the Cyclone from the front.

Sinking its metallic claws into the front of the mech, the Metal Houndoom climbed up and glowered at Tails in the drivers seat, who simply glared back at the pokebot as it opened its mouth and charged up a flamethrower, and pressed a few buttons. The top cannon pointed itself at the Metal Houndoom's head and blasted it with a bolt of blue energy.

The Metal Houndoom lost its grip on the Cyclone and fell backwards, looking somewhat dazed as it launched a flamethrower upwards before hitting the ground. Tails promptly pushed down on a lever to his right to have the Cyclone kick the metal mutt out of the way, quickly turning the mech around to deliver a barrage of yellow energy balls from the front cannon at the other Metal Houndoom, which swiftly ducked and then started dodging to the right.

Half a mile away, Sonic was dodging a series of psybeams the Metal Alakazam was rapidly firing at him one after another from each of the spoons it was carrying. After one of the beams came dangerously close to scraping his nose, Sonic skidded to a halt and began running at near the speed of sound in a large circle around the robot Pokemon.

Metal Alakazam stared back and forth, unsure where to strike. It raised its spoons to try and grab Sonic with Psychic once again, but became distracted and confused when a large cloud of dust suddenly rose up and obscured its vision.

Eyes glowing purple, the Metal Alakazam charged up psychic energy around its body, releasing it in a wave that dispersed the cloud of dust Sonic's running had summoned. Metal Alakazam looked around, quickly spotting Sonic standing a yard away and rapidly shaking his upstretched left hand so quickly the limb appeared a blur. This action had served to summon up a spinning cloud of blue winds above the blue hedgehog.

Metal Alakazam stared blankly at Sonic, who gave it a cocky grin.

"SONIC WIND!"

At that declaration, Sonic threw his hand forward and sent a barrage of the blue wind energy hurtling towards Metal Alakazam at breakneak speed. The charging winds would have certainly inflicted a great deal of damage… if Metal Alakazam didn't teleport out of the way literally the exact instant before they would have made impact.

"Oh come on!" Sonic complained, swiftly surveying the area and getting ready to take off like a rocket again. But Metal Alakazam reappeared directly behind the speedy hedgehog and immediately ensnared him with its Psychic once again, lifting him into the air.

Sonic rolled his eyes and chuckled bitterly "Well, that's just swell"

Metal Alakazam blasted Sonic at short range with a psybeam, releasing the hedgehog from its psychic grip and sending him flying across the field. Sonic landed on his back this time, momentarily too groggy to stand. He growled from both pain and frustration.

Leaning his head back, he caught sight of Tails struggling in the Cyclone to hold off the two Metal Houndoom, one of which was launching an unending flamethrower at the right side of the mech while Tails was barely holding off the other with concurrent energy blasts from the lower cannon of the Cyclone, a puff of smoke near the top of the mech indicating that the top one had been taken out of commission.

Gritting his teeth, Sonic noticed a large rock by the side of his head and grabbed it as he sat up. He threw the rock at the approaching Metal Alakazam's head, who stopped to summon a barrier in front of itself to block it.

Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Sonic flipped himself around and darted forward, spin dashing into the Metal Houndoom spamming flamethrower at the Cyclone and sending it flying a good distance. Sonic followed up by leaping into the air and launching himself at the second Metal Houndoom with a homing attack, pinning the robo-dog to the ground by grinding into its back as hard as he could with his spinning form.

Sonic jumped back and looked at the face of the downed Metal Houndoom, which was struggling to recover from that last attack and rise to its feet again.

"Sonic, outta the way!" Tails screamed. Sonic spun around to see that the indent where the Cyclone's propeller had been was now glowing a dangerous blue colour. Sonic didn't need to be told twice to leap out of the way.

After a short build up, the Cyclone unleashed an enormous, multi-coloured beam of energy from its front. The Metal Houndoom had just gotten unsteadily back onto its feet and raised its head when the beam struck head on and engulfed it, disappearing within the attack for a good ten seconds until the energy emitting from the Cyclone was depleted.

By the time the attack was finished, the Metal Houndoom looked like half of the metal coating its body had been blasted off in chunks, leaving a lot of exposed circuitry and sparks dancing around its body. Metal Houndoom wobbled about on its feet for just a few more seconds before collapsing on the grass, the red glow in its eyes fading and signalling its defeat.

Sonic whistled impressively "Well, that's-UGH!"

Sonic groaned in annoyance as he was once again lifted into the air and pulled towards the Metal Alakazam, who once again started spinning him around.

Gritting his teeth, Tails wasted no time having the Cyclone unleash a rapid flurry of energy blasts from its one working cannon at the Psychic robot. Metal Alakazam raised a free spoon to summon up a barrier, which blocked the attacks effortlessly.

For about fifteen seconds, anyway, before the unending barrage of yellow balls managed to form a slight crack in the barrier.

Sonic ceased twirling around in mid air as the Metal Alakazam turned to stare at the crack in its barrier, which seemed to be slowly expanding as the Cyclone's main weapon continued its relentless assault. Though its face couldn't form any expression, the manner in which the Alakazam robot cocked its head made it look baffled that its psychic barrier could actually be damaged by such attacks.

Finally, after about a full minute, the barrier shattered completely, and the Cyclone's energy bolts began pelting Metal Alakazam in the chest, knocking the Metal Pokemon off balance and causing Sonic to be released from the grasp of its psychic.

The speedy hedgehog almost immediately launched himself at the Metal Alakazam with a homing attack, sending it flying several meters before crashing face down against the ground, sliding into a large bush.

Sonic landed on the ground beneath where Metal Alakazam had been hovering and panted slightly, taking a moment to shake off the remaining dizziness from being spun around. When he regained his composure he turned to face the Cyclone, and noticed that not far behind it the second Metal Houndoom was back on its feet and looking ready to charge at Tails' Mech again.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the metallic canine before looking up to address Tails in the Cyclone's driver seat.

"Keep Metal Alakazam busy for just a minute, while I take care of the Houndoom! Then we'll finish this together!" Sonic instructed, earning a nod of agreement from the yellow fox.

Metal Houndoom pounced at the Cyclone, and Sonic darted forward to strike it head on with a homing attack, propelling it back several feet. At the same time Metal Alakazam rose out of the bush it had landed in and brandished its twin spoons at Tails, who frowned determinedly at it as he had the Cyclone charge forward and fire more energy bolts.

As Tails engaged the strongest of the robot Pokemon, Sonic began leading the Metal Houndoom away to a clearing several yards away where the grass was at its shortest along route eleven, and there was little shrubbery to potentially catch fire from the robo-dog's attacks.

Metal Houndoom fired off multiple attacks at Sonic in quick succession. Fire blast, flamethrower, dark pulse. It even tried to get in close to use bite on him. But the blue blur effortlessly avoided them all, simply turning into a blue streak and zipping away at the last second every time, all the while giving Metal Houndoom a teasing grin.

The robot Pokemon was clearly extremely powerful. Probably more so than most specimens of the actual creature it was based on considering how the mutt and it's partner had nearly totalled the Cyclone together just now. And it was definitely fast, it could probably even outrun a Rapidash with little effort.

But for Sonic, it was hardly a challenge. Metal Alakazam was a menace to him because its psychic powers were perfectly designed to cause him grief, but Metal Houndoom? To anyone else it would be a substantial threat, but to Sonic it was just another standard mook that couldn't hope to keep up with him.

Still, Sonic quickly reminded himself he couldn't afford to play around with it too much while Tails was still engaging its partner, so after sidestepping its second bite attack, Sonic darted back a yard and then spindashed into the Metal Houndoom, knocking it off its feet. While it was down, Sonic lifted his right hand into the air and began spinning it around rapidly.

Metal Houndoom only just about had time to rise to it's feet again when Sonic launched the full powered Sonic Wind attack at it.

The robot Pokemon was fully engulfed by the rapid blue winds, which began swirling around Metal Houndoom and hammering away at it's metal body repeatedly for half a minute. When the winds finally subsided, several chunks of metal coating had been stripped away, much like what had earlier happened to its partner.

The Metal Houndoom stumbled, emitting a low beeping sound that signalled it was in pain. The noise was swiftly drowned out as Sonic struck the canine down with another homing attack, then proceeded to follow up with a barrage of half a dozen more homing attacks until Metal Houndoom finally collapsed in a broken heap on the grass.

Taking note of the red light fading from its eyes, Sonic nodded, determining the bot was finished.

_'Now that just leaves-'_

Sonic's thoughts were cut off by a loud noise that reminded him of the crack of a whip. He turned around to see the Cyclone flying backwards through the air towards him, and with a shocked grimace Sonic handily sidestepped out of the way. The Cyclone slid to a halt a dozen meters away from Sonic, who ran up to anxiously check on Tails in the mech's drivers seat.

"Speak to me, bro!" Sonic commanded, looking down with great worry at the younger fox who was shaking his head around, clearly daze. Sonic's concerned voice helped snap him out of it though, and Tails hastily had the Cyclone push itself back onto its feet.

Sonic took note of how the front cannon had been blasted off of the mech.

Sighing with relief that his friend wasn't hurt too badly, Sonic turned around to see Metal Alakazam hovering towards the two Mobians, moving slowly and in a foreboding manner.

A sudden spasm of pain spread across Sonic's back, probably a result of the close range Psybeam he had taken earlier. Sonic grit his teeth as he rubbed his aching back. It occurred to him that so far he had taken a lot more hits than he'd managed to dish out against the remaining robot Pokemon.

It wasn't TOO big a deal for Sonic, personally. He had amazing endurance and could keep fighting... but he wasn't stupid. A bit cocky, sure, but Sonic knew he couldn't afford to keep getting tossed around like a rag doll for much longer and still expect to pull through.

And the Cyclone had sustained heavy damage and lost most of its weapons: Tails was a good fighter on his own, but he didn't have Sonic's speed or quite as much endurance. He wasn't going to be a match for something like this, and with its teleporting powers Sonic wasn't entirely sure he could get Tails to a safe spot where Metal Alakazam couldn't find him.

Yeah, Sonic had to end this as swiftly as possible.

"Can you fire another one of those huge lasers again?" Sonic asked.

"The Power Laser uses up a LOT of energy, and I'm down to less than half" Tails explained direly, gripping the steering wheel of the plane-mecha tightly "It'll take about a minute to charge up, and I'd say that'll be the last shot I can take"

The Metal Alakazam came to a stop a short distance away from Sonic and Tails, the former of whom was scratching his chin and humming thoughtfully.

"Only one shot, huh?" Sonic said. He smirked cheekily "My favourite kind of odds"

The Metal Alakazam made a sort of "Come on" motion to the Mobian duo, to which Sonic chuckled.

"Keep charging it up then, I'll distract him" Sonic instructed.

The instant Tails nodded in response Sonic blitzed forward and began running in circles around the Metal Alakazam, moving so fast the robot barely had time to react. Sonic ran in a much smaller circle than he did during their first clash, and instead of a cloud of dust this time Sonic's running produced some kind of blue tornado that sent Metal Alakazam flying fifty feet into the air.

Moving at top speed, Sonic took off in the direction that would lead one to Porta Vista, running about five miles in as many seconds before quickly flipping around and speeding back in the direction of his metal opponent.

Metal Alakazam floundered around as it plummeted to the ground. The robot Pokemon just barely managed to right itself before it hit the ground and hovered safely above it, only for Sonic to close in and strike it head on with a full speed spindash, the impact of which created a visible sonic boom.

Metal Alakazam flew thirty feet to the East from that attack, and Sonic ran at somehow even greater speeds to get in front of it and hit it with a homing attack, knocking it to the ground.

Wasting no time, Sonic followed that up by striking the downed Metal Alakazam with a rapid fire series of homing attacks from all sides. Sonic landed about twenty good hits on the robot Pokemon before finally, Metal Alakazam somehow managed to cast teleport and blip out of the way.

Sonic bounced off the ground and uncurled in mid-air, performing a super hero landing and looking around frantically. Spotting his opponent stumbling through the air half a yard to the North East of where he was standing, Sonic frowned furiously and dashed forward to tackle it...

... Abruptly stopping a mere two feet away from Metal Alakazam, a purple aura surrounding him as the Metal Pokemon had extended a hand backwards in his direction.

Metal Alakazam craned it's head towards Sonic in a creepy manner, glaring dangerously at the blue hedgehog with its glowing red pupils. Sonic simply took a deep breath, sighed coolly and raised an annoyed eyebrow at his captor.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to figure out a technique or something to counter this cheap trick, and on that day every Psychic-type Pokemon on the planet is going to feel their spine tremble and they won't know why" Sonic snarked.

Metal Alakazam responded by having Sonic's face slammed into the ground.

It then proceeded to lift Sonic ten feet into the air, then slam him down against the ground again. And again. And again, many times over. Eventually however Metal Alakazam seemed to tire of this routine and after the twentieth smack down it pinned Sonic against the ground, lowered itself so that it was hovering just in front of its captive and began charging up a large amount of psychic energy in one of its spoons, pointing it at Sonic's head.

Groaning slightly, Sonic somehow managed to pull his head up and observe the build up of psychic energy most likely meant to finish him off.

He grinned smugly.

"Bet you think you've won, don't you?"

Metal Alakazam cocked its head curiously at Sonic's tone, then sensing another large build up of energy nearby it turned to see the Cyclone standing nearby and facing it.

The indent in the mech's center was glowing brilliantly.

"TAKE THIS!" Tails yelled, having the Cyclone unleash an enormous multi-coloured laser at the robot Pokemon.

Metal Alakazam frantically released its psychic grip on Sonic, who promptly rolled out of the way, and launched its Psybeam to try and counter the Cyclone's attack, but the purple beam was clearly no match for the mighty Power Laser and Metal Alakazam was soon engulfed by the giant burst of light.

Lying on his back nearby, Sonic sat up to watch the enormous stream of light wash out over the field. When it faded, Metal Alakazam hovered before him as a scorched, sparking mess. The lights of its eyes blacked out, and the mighty robot fell to the ground, defeated.

There was a long silence across that stretch of land on Route eleven afterwards as Sonic and Tails caught their breaths and composed themselves, the only sound that could be heard was the gentle breeze of the wind.

Rising to his feet, somewhat unsteadily as his entire body still ached from Metal Alakazam's assault, Sonic approached the downed Pokemon robot and tapped its head a few times with his foot to determine if it was really down for the count.

Tails hopped out of the Cyclone shortly after and approached Sonic and the downed robot, bringing his laptop with him, using a camera along the back of it to take a few scans of the Metal Alakazam.

Sonic and Tails exchanged grim scowls.

Normally after a tough fight, the two of them would be jovial, complimenting each other's cool moves while Sonic spouted quips or snappy one liners while bragging about how winning had been all too easy.

But there was an uncomfortable thought that had been on their minds since the start of the encounter with the Metal Pokemon. Something that had been underdiscussed due to the present need to start fighting back, but which now weighed heavily on the young Freedom Fighters.

"They really are just like Metal Sonic..." Sonic said, narrowing his eyes at the battered Metal Alakazam "... But how? That shouldn't be possible... we destroyed all the deep power stones Eggman had"

"Well, hate to break it to you Sonic, but according to this" Tails replied, tapping the screen of his laptop and nervously reading over the data appearing on it "These things are indeed running on power stones"

Sonic's spine tingled, as he felt just the slightest hint of an emotion he rarely experienced as a result of anything that didn't involve his friends and loved ones being put in life threatening danger.

Fear.

"... We're going to start searching the area..." Sonic instructed "See if there's any more of these things around. Or a base... or any other clues we can find. Then we'll take these three scrap heaps back to your hotel room in the city"

Sonic clenched a fist, glaring down at Metal Alakazam's cold, lifeless glass eyes.

"Eggman's not playing around"

* * *

_***Meanwhile,** **in** **Cerulean** **City***_

On the East side of Cerulean City, there was an empty store. For a few years it had been a very successful bicycle shop, but about four months ago the owner had closed up shop and moved to Goldenrod City in Johto, wanting to be closer to his family after the birth of his first grandchild.

No one was sure who had bought the store, the old owner simply claiming an anonymous benefactor had offered him a good deal of money for it that he could use to set up a new bicycle shop in Goldenrod.

Whoever that mystery buyer was seemingly had no interest in doing anything with the store as far as most people had observed, however, and the old shop looked empty and abandoned to any passers by looking in through the windows.

The doors were tightly shut, and as a few would be burglars had found out a month ago the windows seemed to be made of a very strong glass that wouldn't shatter even if they were punched by a Machoke. How a simple bike salesman had ever gotten ahold of such strong windows was anyone's guess.

The simple answer was, the old owner didn't put in those windows. The man who bought the store had them installed late one night when no one was watching.

Another thing most people didn't realize about the old bicycle shop was that it had a pretty large basement, in which a large number of computer screens had been installed, all of them showing footage of various locations throughout the Kanto region. From a laboratory on Cinnabar Island, to the icy caves of Seafoam Island to a mysterious tower in Lavender Town.

A short, mostly bald man with a long pointed nose wearing a green shirt stood in the center of this computer room, currently observing a video screen towards the center of his collection of computers.

It was a live feed of Sonic and Tails' battle with the robot Pokemon, which the man had been watching with a perpetually deadpanned look. When Sonic took off and Tails made for the Cyclone and had it reconfigured into it's Tornado plane form, the man in the green shirt casually shrugged and shook his head, his expression remaining completely neutral.

"Well, well. It seems Sonic and Tails survived the test run. Who could have predicted that?" The short bald man said in a calm tone nonetheless dripping with sarcasm "I suppose I better report this to dear old Uncle Ivo… tomorrow of course. For now, I think it's wise I move to another base"

* * *

 _ ***Solaceon** **Town,** **April**_ **_1st, 6:16pm Sinnoh Time*_**

Angie walked along the road leading to her home on the far side of Solaceon town, carrying a medium sized bag full of super potions and full heals, Shinx following closely behind her. She also wore a backpack that was full of similar items.

Following her phone call with Ash, Angie had spent most of her free time that day training with Shinx, working on perfecting it's thunder fang attack (A move Shinx had already long perfected in the old timeline, but this was an earlier point in time so of course it hadn't yet. Real annoying to see all that progress reset, Angie had thought to herself, but what you gonna do?).

About twenty minutes ago her father had reminded her to stop by the Pokemart to pick up an order he'd made, and she'd mostly spent the time going back and forth from the store thinking of how she was going to get Shinx to evolve again.

Right now though, her mind was more focused on a matter she'd mulled over a few times that afternoon, but had mostly been putting off because it made her awkward to think about it.

"How am I supposed to break it to them" Angie sighed, scratching her chin with the same hand carrying the bag of potions and frowning "If I had a month or two before going to Kanto this would be easy, but I'm heading to Veilstone in the morning and setting off to Vermilion in two days. There's no way I can bring this up without making it look really random and suspicious. Ugh!"

"Shin, Shinx" Shinx said sympathetically. Angie sighed at him.

"I'll be fine" Angie insisted "I'm probably going to get scolded a lot by dad, but I'll still go through with it… just… ugh, I hate when things get awkward like this!"

Shinx shook his head and skipped forward. Angie continued along the path, spotting her house in the distance. She stopped paying attention for a moment to where she was going, carefully mulling over exactly how the dreaded conversation of her leaving home would go with her parents over dinner and how she would first break the news and explain her motivations (Or at least, a convenient excuse for leaving that didn't make her sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist. She definitely wasn't mentioning the words Arceus or Beyonder in front of them). She ended up nearly tripping over Shinx, who had come to an abrupt halt.

"Hey!" Angie yelped, steadying herself. She looked at her Pokemon with some concern, noticing his wide eyed stare "What's up?"

"Shinx" Shinx said, now looking very serious and pointing a paw towards the other side of the road. Angie followed his gaze, and noticed a small brown and yellow figure moving unsteadily along the side of the road further down the path, just a bit ahead of the Daycare.

Angie blinked. Concern spread across her face as she dashed forward to get a better look. Stopping right on the other side of the road from the figure, she realized that it was a rabbit with brown fur along its upper body and a lot of yellow fluff along it's lower half and at the tip of its ears.

"A Buneary" Angie observed. And it was a very battered Buneary at that, covered from head to foot in fresh bruises. It was struggling to walk, and from the way it was panting it looked like it had exhausted itself already traveling a good distance. Angie's eyes widened "Oh crap! Hey!"

The Buneary's ears perked up, and it turned to see Angie running towards it.

"Bun!" The Buneary cried out crossly, assuming an intimidating stance and weakly throwing a punch in Angie's direction. Angie stopped, staring apprehensively at the injured rabbit as the Buneary glared at her and unsteadily motioned for her to back off "Buneary, bun!"

"Hey… it's okay" Angie said carefully, holding her hands out in front of her and shrinking back, trying to look non-threatening. Shinx scurried over to her side, observing the Buneary with an equal amount of concern as Angie motioned for it to calm down "I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay"

Buneary looked unconvinced, making a noise that sounded surprisingly close to a growl towards Angie. It backed away slightly and then attempted to make a run for it, but its legs appeared to give out and the rabbit collapsed on the grass, groaning in pain. Feeling panicked, Angie dropped to her knees besides Buneary and looked it over.

"It's okay, it's okay, you'll be okay" Angie said anxiously, more to herself than Buneary as she grabbed a super potion out of the bag she had been carrying and began spraying it along the Pokemon's body. Buneary cried out in protest, but was too weak to do anything to resist other than squirm around as Angie sprayed the potion all along the back of its body and head.

Obviously anyone with medical experience would tell you that the healing effects of potions weren't actually instantaneous or would completely heal all wounds in a pinch, but Buneary did stop shaking a bit the more Angie used on her and appeared more relaxed, indicating it was having some effect.

Angie sighed in relief at that and waited for a few minutes to let the potion sink in before carefully reaching out a hand, wanting to comfortingly stroke the Buneary before rolling it over and spraying along the front. Buneary grunted at that, still clearly not wanting the girl to get too close. Shinx slowly edged closer, speaking softly to the Buneary. Buneary appeared to consider whatever Shinx was telling it, and slowly relaxed. Angie smiled weakly. She was still very worried for the poor Pokemon's health, but at least it didn't seem beyond help.

A metallic screeching sound suddenly rang out. Angie snapped to attention, spotting a black jeep pull up nearby from the road that lead into a nearby forest. Two men dressed in black and grey… Angie wasn't sure what kind of uniforms they were, but they both looked like thugs, so that was enough to get her on edge.

The man on the right had spiky red hair while the one on the left had brown, shoulder length hair and wore a beret. That man also had a scar on his left cheek.

The strange new arrivals had their eyes locked on Buneary for a long moment. Their gaze slowly wandered to Angie. The thugs gave Angie thoughtful looks then began looking around, as if to check if anyone was watching. The brown haired man whispered something Angie couldn't hear to the red haired man, looking cautious. The red head just slapped his shoulder and laughed, whispered a response and stepped forward, trying to look unassuming as he approached Angie.

"Ah, good afternoon, young lady" The red haired man said in a rough, scratchy voice. Sounded like a chain smoker to Angie "I see you found our little lost Pokémon"

Angie gave the man a bemused look. She glanced down at Buneary, still too injured to get up and move but clearly flailing around and making cries of protest, and then fixed the red head with a suspicious glare.

"Uh-huh" Angie said simply. The brown haired man noted her tone and sighed, shaking his head shamefully as his partner merely smiled and carried on in an increasingly peppy tone.

"Yes, you see, our poor little Buneary got into a nasty fight with a wild-er… Abomasnow this morning, and took off in a panic. We've been EVER so worried about her" The man explained, sounding about as sincere as your standard shady politician.

Angie just stared at the guy in silent disbelief, motioning for him to continue. A wild Abomasnow? Near Solaceon town? The guy might as well have told her they were jumped by a Darkrai and it would have been more believable.

"The poor little darling, we really have to thank you for finding it. Now if you'd just mosey along, we'll take care of things from here" The red haired man said, taking a step towards Buneary and reaching out his hands in a grabby fashion. Angie stepped between him and Buneary, holding out her arms and fixing the man a fierce glare.

"Yeah, nice try buddy, but I know a con when I see one. I'll give you two minutes to mosey along yourselves or Shinx'll hit you with a thunderfang!" Angie declared. Shinx leapt in front of her and bared his fangs at the creep, making a few sparks fly out of his mouth for emphasis. The red haired goons' eye twitched slightly and he scowled at Angie.

"What gave us away?" He asked himself. From back near the jeep his brown haired accomplice straight up facepalmed and groaned loudly.

"I told ya she wasn't going to buy it, Joey. Even if you were a good actor we look way too suspicious to fool anyone in this situation, and the dang Pokemon's still awake and knows who we are. Come on, man" The exasperated man scolded.

The red haired man named Joey grunted back at his partner "Well you said let's not try nothing too hasty, Bruno. I wanted to have Houndour maul her face off"

"Yeah, because that wouldn't get the police to come after us even harder at all" The man called Bruno said while rolling his eyes.

"Well, not like we got a lotta other options now" Joey said, pulling out a Pokeball and eyeing Shinx menacingly, who growled dangerously at him. Angie grit her teeth, glancing quickly at Buneary and getting ready to call out an attack.

"Let's just drop it. We don't have time to waste on this, and I don't like being this close to town in our poacher get ups" Bruno said, glancing anxiously at the windows to the Daycare. Angie took a quick look herself, but her parents didn't seem to be near the windows to notice what was going on right now.

"That's our quarry right there! I worked hard to round it up!" Joey yelled indignantly, earning a belligerent sigh from his partner.

"It's a freaking Buneary! There's a million more just like 'em running around Sinnoh! We got rarer Pokemon back at the camp to sell, this ain't worth the hassle" Bruno said grouchily. Joey snorted.

"It's the principle of the thing! A good poacher never lets a catch get away! Now quit yappin' and help me beat the living daylights out of this teenage girl" Joey demanded, getting ready to throw the Pokeball in his hand.

"Shinx, Thunderfang!" Angie ordered. Shinx immediately leapt up and bit hard into Joey the poacher's outstretched right arm, causing him to drop the unactivated Pokeball and start flailing around in a painful panic. The red head screamed profanities as he desperately tried to pull Shinx off of him, only to eventually freeze up as a wave of lightning engulfed his body. Joey's hair went from spiky to poufy before he collapsed on the ground, twitching and sparking.

Bruno shook his head, looking utterly embarrassed "For crying out loud… ah, fine. No going back now" The man pulled out his own pokeball and managed to throw it before Angie called out a command "Sneasel, you're up!"

"Sneasel!" The sleek black Pokemon declared as it materialized before its trainer, crouching down and baring its claws at Angie, who grit her teeth.

"Shinx, you up for this?" Angie asked her partner, who gave her a determined nod and growled at the Sneasel, arching his back in a threatening manner. Sneasel just grinned wickedly.

Angie gave Bruno the poacher a vicious scowl, but internally she was having a hard time not panicking. Her Shinx was practically a baby at this point in time, just barely over a year old. And while she was sure she'd done the best job she could to raise and train him so far, the only battles this version of her trusty partner had ever been in were sparring matches against Pokemon at the daycare, and some rookie trainers that passed through town now and then.

All a far cry from a freaking Pokemon hunter! Even if she'd lucked out and bumped into the least effective poachers in Sinnoh, which was admittedly likely given how much of an idiot Joey the red head had turned out to be, these were still dangerous people she was dealing with who no doubt had plenty of experience tackling much stronger Pokemon than Angie's Shinx could hope to beat at his current level.

Internally she knew she didn't have a chance here. But even so, it's not like she could just do nothing and let these creeps take off with Buneary, or whatever other Pokemon they had at this supposed camp of theirs.

Angie quickly weighed her options, glancing once more to her house on the other side of the road. Too far to run with Buneary in her arms without Sneasel getting in the way and attacking her, even with Shinx on guard. Worse, she still couldn't see her parents in the windows, and she was sure no-one else was currently around to back her up.

But her parents had to still be in the house, they wouldn't have gone anywhere while she was at the Pokémart without telling her first. So then, Angie figured, maybe the best plan was to hold this guy off long enough and make some noise until help did arrive?

Well, her only other options were straight up beating this guy or miraculously outrunning a Sneasel and not getting her legs cut off, so she'd have to go with that plan and hope it worked. And so on that note, Angie began taking a deep breath, letting it out with a loud scream.

"POKEMON HUNTERS! THIEVES! CRIMINALS!"

Bruno looked taken aback by Angie's loud calls, shaking his hands in a panic for her to stop, earning an odd look from his Sneasel.

"Keep it down, would ya!" Bruno called worriedly.

"POACHERS! ASSHOLES! HELP!" Angie continued shouting, briefly giving the Pokemon hunter a smug grin between words. Bruno growled.

"Ah fine, you asked for it… Sneasel, use cut on the girl!"

At Bruno's command, Sneasel held out its right claw for a brief instant, which began to glow white, and dashed forward towards Angie.

"Bite!" Angie practically yelped. Shinx just barely managed to catch Sneasel's claw with his teeth when it was a foot away from Angie's face, pulling them both to the ground.

Sneasel struggled to pull its claw free for a moment, delivering a kick to the bottom of Shinx's jaw to make him release his grip and swiping at Shinx with its left hand to push him back a bit. Angie aimed a kick at the Sneasel, but it dodged her by back-flipping a few feet away from her, glaring at Shinx as it landed and bearing its claws once more.

"Sneasel, use icy wind!"

"Dodge and use spark!"

Unfortunately Shinx wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack, which struck head on and sent Shinx rolling back several feet. To his credit though, despite shivering and having flakes of snow all over his fur, Shinx quickly pulled himself up and followed the rest of Angie's command, charging at his opponent as electricity surrounded his whole body. Sneasel expertly dodged it though even without command from its master.

"Now use cut again!"

"Dodge and use thunder fang!"

This time Shinx actually managed to sidestep Sneasel's attack, probably helped by the momentum from his previous sprint at the weasel Pokemon, and quickly bit into Sneasel's left arm in the brief moment its guard was down following the missed attack.

Sneasel cried out in pain for a moment, stumbling backwards after Shinx was done shocking it. Unlike Joey the hunter, unfortunately, Sneasel was able to mostly shrug off the pain from that attack fairly quickly, and swiftly struck Shinx in the face with another cut in revenge. Shinx flew several feet backwards and landed with a thud, trembling from the impact.

"Shinx!" Angie cried out. Shinx didn't get up at her command, just growling loudly in pain and clenching his legs, which filled Angie with dread. She looked at Sneasel, who while it was still sparking a little from the last attack seemed mildly injured at worst and clearly still raring to go.

"And stay down, runt!" Bruno the poacher spat at Shinx, which made Angie really want to punch him as he turned to her "Look, kid, I don't have time for games! I just want to grab my dumbass partner and the stupid Pokemon and get out of here before Officer Jenny shows up. So be a dear and move aside, I'll even let you take your Pokemon with you if you're quick and don't bother me anymore. That sounds generous, right?"

Angie gave a worried look to her struggling partner, then turned around to check on Buneary again. Somehow during that scuffle Buneary had gotten to its feet again and managed to move a few feet away from Angie, probably in small part to the super potions effect setting in. But clearly it still wasn't fit enough to make a break for it, and Buneary collapsed to its knees again, panting heavily and shaking in fear, looking utterly helpless.

Angie's heart sank at the sight. A growl from Sneasel startled her, and Angie turned again to see the small black Pokemon giving her a death glare and lighting its claw up once more in a threatening gesture. Angie's lip trembled for a moment, but she still held out her arms defensively and glared back at the Pokemon with a fire in her eye.

"You're not getting Buneary!" Angie screamed, clenching both outstretched hands into fists "I'll beat you back with my bare hands if I have to! There's no way I'm letting you creeps hurt one more tuft of fur on its head!"

Angie only faintly heard the gasp Buneary let out at that bold declaration, her attention focused strictly on the hunter and his Pokemon in front of her. Shinx let out a worried cry and forced himself unsteadily to his feet, still clearly reeling from Sneasel's last attack but more concerned with his trainer's safety than his own pain. Bruno the poacher heaved an aggravated sigh, shaking his head in disbelief at the teenage girl opposing him.

"I really hate kids these days and their moral purity nonsense" Bruno groaned. He fixed Angie with a furious scowl "Alright then kid, just remember you asked for this. Sneasel-"

"USE THUNDER!"

Neither party had much time to react to the sudden command before a large bolt of lightning lashed out and struck Sneasel dead on. Sneasel cried out in agony as the lightning ravaged its body for a good ten seconds. When it finally subsided Sneasel simply stared quietly upwards for a moment, fidgeting and retching as sparks danced across its body, before eventually falling flat on its face, eyes swirling as the Pokemon lost consciousness.

Angie and Bruno gaped at the latter's fallen Pokemon. Angie quickly spotted the source of the attack standing on the other side of the road, a large, angry Luxray commanded by her father, both looking very intimidating. Angie's mother quickly ran past them and tossed a Pokeball in Bruno's direction, looking as terrifyingly furious as her husband.

"Kangaskhan, comet punch!"

A Kangaskhan materialized near the poacher in a flash of blue light and immediately rushed forth to clock him square in the face with the hardest punch it could throw. Bruno the Pokemon Hunter was unconscious before he'd even hit the ground twelve feet away.

"And stay down!" Angie's mother screamed, shaking an angry fist at the knocked out poacher. Her expression near-instantaneously shifted into one of concern as she rushed towards her daughter and put her hands on her shoulder "Angie, dear, are you alright?!"

"I'm…" Angie hesitated, too stunned for words at first. It soon passed, and she broke out into a grateful smile as a wave of relief washed over her "… Thanks, mom. I'm okay"

Tears welled up in the corner of Angie's mother's eyes as she pulled her daughter in close for a bone-crushing hug. Angie's father approached cautiously, observing the other Pokemon hunter, Joey, who was still shaken from the thunder fang Shinx had hit him with but seemed to have regained enough strength to crane his head upwards.

"H-h-hey ma'am… nice day, isn't it?" Joey said to her father. Conscious he was, lucid certainly not. Angie's father looked like he was resisting the urge to kick him in the face in response. He turned to see his daughter looking at him over her mother's shoulder.

"… The hell happened out here?" He asked. Angie could only sigh and shake her head in response for the moment, hugging her mother back. Her father smiled uneasily at her and went to check on Shinx, his Luxray leaping forward and sniffing Bruno's Sneasel, checking to see if it was truly unconscious.

Angie didn't notice Buneary looking up at her from behind with wide eyes.

* * *

_***1** **hour** **later***_

After checking over their daughter and Shinx, Angie's parents had made a call to Officer Jenny, who arrived shortly after with a squad of police officers to arrest the two poachers. After loading the two and Sneasel into a police van, Jenny had sent some of her squad into the forest to try and find their camp. After some questioning, Angie and her father rushed straight to a hut on the edge of the field behind their house, where Angie's mother had taken Shinx and Buneary to treat their wounds.

Angie's mother had actually trained to be a nurse before she had met her father and became co-owner of the family daycare. The hut the family was currently gathered in had once been a small barn that she had converted years ago to be a miniature treatment center for injured Pokemon.

In addition to attending to the medical needs of Pokemon left at the Daycare, she occasionally treated wild Pokemon and even offered treatment for Pokemon owned by the townsfolk whenever the Solaceon Pokemon center was overbooked.

Usually for more mild treatments and injury, the place wasn't AS well equipped or heavily staffed as an actual Pokemon Center of course, but Angie's mother still knew very much what she was doing. She even had her own Chansey that knew heal pulse, which she'd caught years ago on the route just North of town.

Buneary had been set down on a comfortable pillow on a counter in this hut, receiving a good long exposure to heal pulse from Chansey while Angie's mother had examined Shinx. Luckily the small feline Pokemon was only mildly shook up and didn't seem to suffer a concussion or any other severe injuries from his fight with Sneasel, so after some quick treatment and eating a sitrus berry, it was declared he'd be fine after some rest.

Buneary was a different story unfortunately. Along with determining that Buneary was actually a girl, Angie's mother had suggested that she had probably only been caught recently by the Pokemon Hunters, as there wasn't any sign of malnourishment or any other signs of long-term neglect one would often pick up from Pokemon that had been in the possession of Pokemon Hunter's for a sizeable amount of time. But the injuries it did have were pretty severe and made it clear that the two Poachers that had captured her had used excessive force to do so.

Not necessarily to the point that Buneary would die from her wounds, at least now that she was being treated, Angie's mother explained to her daughter's immense relief. But it was probably going to take her a long while to fully recover; Arceus forbid she would be in shape to battle or perform any other strenuous activity any time in the next several weeks.

At the current moment Angie was watching her mother carefully tie bandages around Buneary's abdomen. Buneary had initially refused to let Angie's mother pick her up and carry her to the barn, only relenting to being held when Angie had offered to do it. She had to be put to sleep with anaesthesia afterwards so Angie's mother could properly treat her as she was doing.

Angie couldn't get over how peaceful the fluffy rabbit looked asleep, and what a far cry that was from the expression on her face when Angie and Shinx had discovered her.

"… I think she should recover properly with bed rest and regular treatment from Chansey's heal pulse, but if there's no noticeable improvement by tomorrow evening I'm calling nurse Joy and taking her to the center" Angie's mother said when she finished applying bandages.

Angie's father nodded at that and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder "Understood. You did the right thing, dear. I will say it was reckless to try and battle those thugs on your own and I want to be more angry about that, but from what you said I see you didn't have much other option. I'm just glad your mother and I took notice before anything disastrous happened… but it was a kind thing you did for Buneary, and I'm proud of that"

"Thanks, dad" Angie said, only half paying attention as her focus was mostly caught between worry for Buneary and Shinx… and other pressing issues on her mind.

"Plus" Angie's father said, scratching his head and giving Angie an approving grin "I got to hand it to you and Shinx: Not many rookie trainers get to brag that they knocked out a Pokemon Hunter. Even if that guy was an idiot. The whole town's going to be talking about that for months, haha"

Angie barely reacted to that beyond a brief half-smile, her gaze shifting to Shinx, who was lying on a stretcher nearby, seemingly fine but clearly sore and whimpering slightly. A worried frown spread over her face.

For a moment back there in that battle… Angie really thought she might die. Or at least, that she was going to get brutalized and Shinx would get taken away from her along with Buneary. It was an utterly terrifying thought… and the part Angie couldn't get over was how helpless she still felt about all of it.

Angie clenched her fist.

"Mom… Dad" Angie piped up, earning her parents' full attention. She hesitated for a moment and took a deep breath, staring at her feet. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't keep putting it off… especially after everything that just happened "I've decided…" She looked up, facing her parents' concerned gazes "… I want to go on a Pokemon Journey!"

Her parents looked surprised… though weirdly not as much as Angie expected them to be. They exchanged looks, their expressions unreadable to Angie, and then quietly stared at Angie for a long moment.

Angie's voice got caught in her throat, but she maintained a determined expression towards her parents. Her mother's Chansey glanced between all three other present parties and trotted over to the corner of the room, sensing the family needed some space.

"… Okay…" Angie's father said slowly, his face still hard to read. Angie almost wished he looked angrier or more worried now; the awkward silence that followed was starting to unnerve her a bit.

"… An odd time to ask, but alright" Angie's mother said, leaning against the counter "What brought this on?"

Angie took another deep breath, thinking carefully over her next words and struggling not to flinch or look away from the expectant gazes of her mother and father.

"I…" Angie gulped. She shook her head "It's because I want to get stronger… partly" Angie glanced at Shinx as she said it. She wasn't lying yet, anyway "But also because… I want to travel and see the world. I've wanted to do that… I've wanted to do that for a long time now. I'm not just asking now because of what happened today, my mind was finally made up last night and I've wanted to talk to you about it all day. I just… I wasn't sure how to…"

Angie shrunk back a bit as both her parents were now frowning at her. Not angrily, they were thoughtful frowns, but something about the looks in their eyes pierced right through her. Were they disappointed? Concerned? Disapproving, even? Or was she just being paranoid.

"I… I love being here, working at the Daycare Center with you" Angie said, with as much sincerity in her voice as she could make clear "I don't want to leave... not completely. It's why I never asked if I could before… but I don't want to keep putting it off forever! I can't…" Angie hesitated, thinking of the promise she'd made with Ash. She sighed, guilt washing over her. She wasn't going to tell them any untruths, she hadn't so far, but now it really was hitting her how much it hurt she couldn't be fully honest with them either "I know… I know this is sudden, but… this is important to me! I'm… you understand, right?"

Her father hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes for a few seconds before asking "And when were you thinking about leaving?"

"After I'm done visiting Aunt Winry" Angie said quickly "I want to start by travelling around Kanto, with some friends… and then, I don't know, I'll see where that takes me"

That actually did get a surprised reaction from her parents, and a rather disgruntled sigh from her father soon afterwards as he closed his eyes again. Angie flinched and quickly added "I'll be back… I'm not sure when, but I promise I'll keep in touch… I just… I have to do this…" Angie looked at the ground, unable to look her parents in the eye anymore "… For me…"

"To be honest" Angie's mother piped up almost as soon as those last words left her lips "… We knew this was coming for a long time"

Angie snapped to attention, her anxieties briefly forgotten as she looked at her mother in stunned silence. Angie's mother noted her expression and shot her a small smile to try and ease her nerves before she continued.

"Honestly, we expected you to go on a journey as soon as you got your trainer's license. We were surprised when you told us you didn't have any plans for it just yet" She explained, giving Angie a moment to respond afterwards, but when Angie didn't she added "You always loved seeing new Pokemon and hearing stories from old trainers in town about the adventures they'd been on, and you always got so excited to go to Professor Rowan's summer camp every year. It was pretty obvious you wanted to get out and see more of the world yourself"

"We didn't want to press you on it. We preferred you would ask us yourself eventually" Angie's father said, opening his eyes again to give his daughter a look that was firm, but not unkind "I'm happy you like working here at the Daycare. I've said before I'd like you to take over the family business, but I never meant that I expected that to be your only ambition, or that you shouldn't go out into the world and try different things. Decide for yourself if you want to run the daycare or do something else. Lately I've worried I didn't make that very clear, and I apologize if I ever made you feel pressured to stay at home and feel like you couldn't be honest with us about this"

Angie gazed wordlessly at her father, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. She felt a weight lift off her chest, barely believing what she was hearing.

The more stern look her father put on shortly after slammed the weight right back down, however "Of course… I didn't think you'd take off just like that"

A frightened laugh left Angie's lips and she quickly hid her face from her father's line of view.

"Not like we can stop you, I suppose. But still…" Angie heard her father say tiredly.

She struggled to think of what to say next for a moment, letting out a yelp when she felt her father's hand suddenly land on her shoulder. She sighed, cursing her cowardice and resolving to just get this over with.

"I'm sorry about that… I really am" Angie said, locking her eyes with her father's. His stare was blank at first… but gradually softened into a look of acceptance.

"It's fine" He said quietly, chuckling at the confusion on his daughter's face "I mean… it's a bother. I worry about you, especially with what happened just now… but I guess I prefer it to happen this way, than never at all. Just promise me you'll call often, get Winry to help make sure you're fully prepared before taking off, and be careful out there"

Angie's lip quivered. She turned to her mother, who was looking at her very sadly… but also with a proud smile as she approached and put her own hand on Angie's free shoulder.

"You're a responsible and mature young woman, Angie. Your father and I couldn't be prouder of how you turned out" She said, shaking her head as her eyes started misting up "This may be more abrupt than we'd like… but we're not mad about it. I promise"

Angie suddenly found her vision very wet and blurry. She grabbed hold of both her parents and pulled them into a tight hug, burying her face into their shoulders. Relief washed over her, followed by a strong rush of emotions that caused a huge stream of tears to leak out of her eyes.

"I love you guys" Angie croaked. Her parents smiled wistfully down at her and tenderly returned the hug.

From the corner of the room, her mother's Chansey cooed softly, almost crying itself over the soft family moment playing out before her. Shinx meowed gleefully from his stretcher, relieved to see things work out well for his trainer.

* * *

_**(After** **dinner)**_

Angie carefully closed the door to the hut behind her, quietly creeping over to the counter where Buneary was still sleeping on a small Pokemon bed her mother had laid out for her. Angie smiled weakly at the dozing bunny, watching her chest rise and fall with every slow breath. She still looked very weak, but amazingly serene for a Pokemon that had been put through the ringer by a couple of heartless thugs.

Angie hummed thoughtfully, staring at her hands. She glanced pensively at the door, hoping very much her mother would be too busy washing dishes for the moment to walk in on what she was about to do.

_'I just hope this actually works'_

Still keeping her eyes carefully locked on the door, Angie leaned down and placed a hand gently on Buneary's side. She heard Buneary squeak lightly in her sleep at the touch. Biting her lip, Angie scrunched up her face and concentrated her thoughts very strongly on the word _'Heal'_

Angie's gaze snapped very abruptly between the still closed door to her hand, which had begun to glow a bluish-green colour. The light from her hand washed over Buneary's body, and Angie's eyes widened in shock and amazement as Buneary's various bruises, cuts and bumps slowly faded away, a few small patches of missing fur even growing back.

After about two minutes, the glow from Angie's hand faded away. Buneary began to stir, slowly opening her eyes and raising her head, blinking at Angie as she gradually became lucid. She was fully healed.

Angie stumbled back slightly, rubbing her head and feeling a bit woozy for a moment, almost like she might faint. When she eventually regained her composure she glanced down at the curious normal type, and shot her a friendly smile.

"Hey, Buneary" Angie said gently, waving slowly at the fluffy rabbit "Did that make you feel better?"

Buneary cocked her head and blinked a few more times at Angie, eventually giving her a happy smile. It turned to a worried frown when the tomboy instinctively started reaching out to pet Buneary, and the fully healed bunny backed away carefully against the edge of the bed Angie's mother had put her in.

Angie swiftly retracted her hand, mentally slapping herself for that sudden gesture. She then held both her hands in front of her in plain sight with her palms open in a reassuring manner, then kneeled down slightly so her face was about eye level with Buneary.

"I'm sorry, that was careless. It's alright that you don't want to be touched right now" Angie said softly, looking Buneary in the eye and trying very hard to make clear with just a look that she was being totally honest "... I'm not going to hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you"

Buneary's posture seemed to relax and she actually took a few steps forward to lean against the front of her Pokemon bed, looking at Angie with wide, imploring eyes. Angie smiled warmly at her.

"I can't tell you exactly how I did it... Honestly I still don't fully get it myself, but I think you should be healed up good as new now" Angie explained. Buneary leaned back and looked over herself, even briefly punching her own chest to confirm it. Angie chuckled at the display and added "You might want to still take it easy for a bit, I can't be completely sure I did the healing thing just right... but you look like you should be fine to me, so you're free to do whatever you want now..."

"Bun?" Buneary said uncertainly. Angie slowly nodded at her.

"Those Pokemon Hunters went to jail. They won't hurt you anymore. I can't say nothing out there ever will now, because come on that's obviously not true... but you're about as safe as you were before they showed up now. So if you want to leave... you're free to do that, so long as you take care of yourself"

Buneary leaned her head against her right shoulder and put a paw against her mouth, still staring at Angie with an expression that was hard for the green haired girl to read.

"I'm sure mom would still want to give you another good look over, just to be sure it is okay to release you again. But I won't force you to stay if you don't want to, or do anything you don't want to do" Angie said, her smile turning a bit sad, almost pleading "I just... I want you to know, not all of us humans are like those two jerks. I promise, most of us are nice, and really care about Pokemon and just want to make friends with you guys. I know you've been through a horrible time, and that was very wrong, you deserved a lot better than that Buneary... but I really hope what those poachers did doesn't make you hate us humans completely"

"I'd... if it was okay with you... I'd really like to be friends with you, Buneary"

...

Buneary stared blankly at Angie, completely still and silent. Angie started to feel a bit worried, but kept up a welcoming smile to the small Pokemon.

After a while, a wide grin suddenly spread over Buneary's face, and to Angie's surprise the rabbit suddenly extended her ears forward to grab the humans' right hand and pull it forward, placing it on top of her head.

Giggling, Angie took the hint and began rubbing Buneary's head affectionately. Buneary leaned into Angie's touch and let out a low, satisfied squeak, which made Angie sigh in relief.

"Thanks, Buneary" Angie said soothingly, rubbing the brown and yellow rabbit's cheek with her thumb and looking at her with much affection "I hope we can be great friends..."

* * *

_***Viridian** **Forest,** **April** **2nd.** **9:37am** **Kanto** **time***_

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Ash wore an exasperated expression as Misty held onto him for dear life from behind.

"Misty… it's just a Weedle"

The horned insect in question blinked curiously at Ash and the trembling teenage girl using him as a shield from the side of the tree it had been climbing. Seconds earlier Misty had been standing next to said tree while casually talking to Ash when Weedle had risen out of a bush at the foot of the tree.

Misty hadn't been looking at first and thus didn't notice it initially until the yellow worm was almost level with her face. When she did turn to spot it though, Misty had frozen on the spot for a long moment, paralyzed with fear, and eventually screamed at the top of her lungs, leading to her current position.

Ash sighed, his expression gradually shifting to a more amused smirk "Still haven't gotten over it since the last time I saw you, huh?"

"Bugs bug me!" Misty growled, eyes locked apprehensively on the Weedle. Said bug-type carefully observed her for a good minute, having itself frozen up in fear at her sudden shriek. But eventually it appeared to conclude that she wasn't an immediate threat, so began casually slithering back up the side of the tree it was climbing, albeit stopping a few times to take another peak at the two trainers.

Misty carefully watched the Weedle climb almost the entire length of the tree until it disappeared behind some leaves, at which point she finally let out a sigh and began to relax, releasing her grip on Ash.

"Next time we're in Alola, you should spend some more time with Lillie. She might have some advice on how to get over that fear" Said Ash. Misty shook her head irritably.

"I don't need to get over it. I just need bug Pokemon to stay a hundred thousand feet away from me at all times, and we're all good" Misty said with a huff, crossing her arms. From behind the teens, Pikachu giggled and made a joke that raised an interesting question for Ash.

"What would you ever do if you met a Surskit or a Golisopod?" Ash asked. Misty looked at him inquisitively "They're bug types, but also water type Pokemon. And you love water Pokemon, right?"

"There are water type BUGS?!" Misty exclaimed, throwing up her arms in disbelief. Ash simply nodded in response, and Misty's face contorted into an expression that was a mix of disgust and righteous fury "… If I ever meet your pal Arceus, I'm filing some complaints"

Ash shrugged his shoulders meekly at that. He also made a mental note to never invite her to Cerise park when they got back to their own timeline without first having Goh put all his bug-types back in their pokeballs first.

"You're going to be alright with Butterfree sticking around for a while again though, right?" Ash asked. Misty calmed down a bit.

"Butterfree's fine. He's nice, and after he evolved he knew when to give me my space" Misty said, taking a few steps further into the forest path they were walking along and gesturing around vaguely at the lines of trees to either side of it "Just… why do we have to go through this bug-infested forest again? Can't we just grab Butterfree and Pidgeotto, go back to Viridian and catch a bus to Pewter City? We wouldn't miss out on much, and we wouldn't have to worry about getting lost and being attacked by Beedrill again"

"I want to train some more before we meet Brock again" Ash said, pulling up his cap slightly and giving Misty a cocky grin "I'm going to teach Pikachu how to use iron tail again, and this time we're going to beat Brock fair and square, no sprinklers necessary"

Pikachu flexed his muscles "Pika! _*Heck yeah we will!*"_

"You can do that in Pewter City" Misty said with a blank stare. Ash shrugged.

"I like training in the forest. There's wild Pokemon to spar against, and a lot of trees for Pikachu to practise against" He said. Noticing the forlorn look on Misty's face he added "You can go back and take the bus if you want. I'll meet you in Pewter City"

"No, I'm sticking close to you. Besides, you'll just get lost if I'm not travelling with you" Misty replied. Ash put his hands on his hips.

"We got lost together all the time, so I don't see what difference it'll make" Ash said playfully. Misty laughed.

"Well without me, you'll get super lost and Brock and I won't see you at the Gym until after the next league conference has been over for a week" Misty snarked back, mimicking Ash's gesture and giving him a mock scowl. Ash just shook his head and grinned.

"Have I mentioned I really missed travelling together with you?" Ash asked sarcastically. He and Misty gave each other teasing looks for a moment before bursting out laughing. Pikachu blinked at them.

_'If you two aren't engaged by at least Cinnabar Island, then there's no hope for you, Ash'_

"So where even DID we find Caterpie again?" Misty suddenly asked, looking around carefully. Ash scratched his head.

"I'm sure it's somewhere around here. Maybe just up ahead. We weren't far into the forest the last time" Ash said. Misty put a hand on her cheek and hummed.

"True, but for all we know, Caterpie could be all the way on the other side of the forest this time. You fried my bike in the middle of the road and I didn't have to fish you and Pikachu out of the river, and there's a bunch of other stuff that's different in this world… for all we know, Caterpie's already a Metapod by now… or a Kakuna" Misty said. Ash clenched his teeth in concern, suddenly worried finding his old Pokemon wouldn't be so simple after all "… Oh yeah, you DID text Professor Oak about my bike later, right?"

"Yeeeess" Ash sighed loudly, looking annoyed. He'd done that earlier this morning before they left the Pokemon Centre, right after verifying his email address. He hadn't heard back from the Professor yet though.

"Also, how do you know which Caterpie will be yours, anyway?" Misty asked "I know you spend a lot of time with your Pokemon and probably know most of them by heart, but you didn't really have Butterfree for very long, and he was a Caterpie for like a day. I know he means a lot to you, but how do you know you won't be catching a random Caterpie until you can't restore their memory?"

"Pikachu said he can tell all of my Pokemon apart from wild ones by scent, so that shouldn't be a problem" Ash replied. He thought over Misty's words for a moment. Normally he would be offended at the suggestion by anyone that he couldn't recognise any of his Pokemon. But… it had been six years since he saw Butterfree. And her logic kinda made sense. It didn't feel like he was being judged, at least.

"Well then, let's just hurry up and keep looking" Misty said, then suddenly picked up Pikachu and gave him a hug "But I'm holding Pikachu whenever you're not training with him. He's going to be my personal bug zapper until we're out of this accursed forest"

"Pika _*I have no complaints about that*"_ Pikachu said, smiling and nuzzling his face against the spot right below Misty's neck. Ash rolled his eyes playfully at him.

The two started walking further down the path into the forest. A rustling sound from a nearby bush alerted them. Ash eyed the bush expectantly, but rather than his cute little Caterpie it was a large Pinsir that emerged. The large brown beetle blinked at the teenagers a few times… and then carefully twirled its fingers together and looked anxious.

Ash gave the Pinsir an odd look as it left the bush and began slowly tip-toeing its way to the other side of the forest path. That was rather odd behaviour from an aggressive looking and usually battle ready Pokemon like Pinsir… but he was also suspiciously sure he recognised that specific behaviour in one before.

To his side Misty suddenly broke out of her stunned silence and screamed twice as loud as she had at Weedle and held Pikachu unsteadily out in front of her so he was facing Pinsir "P-P-Pi-Pikachu, USE THUNDERBOLT!"

Pikachu looked confused for a second, but began building up electricity anyway to comply… and then abruptly stopped, eyeing the Pinsir with a look of realization.

"Pi… pika… PI! _*Hey… wait_ _a_ _minute… is that… Goh's!*"_ Pikachu yelped, turning to Ash "Pikachu! _*It's Goh's Pinsir, I'm sure of it!*"_

"Really?" Ash asked, suddenly getting really enthusiastic. Misty gawked at him.

"What?" Misty questioned, still very nervous "What did Pikachu say?"

"That Pinsir belongs to Goh!" Ash told her excitedly. Misty just stared back at him in confusion, then frowned thoughtfully before seeming to come to an understanding.

"That friend of yours you told me about? The one you were working with for that Professor?" Misty inquired. Ash nodded.

"Yeah! I'm pretty sure that's his Pinsir, years before he caught it" Ash said, giving the sensitive bug a good look over "I didn't expect to see it here. I don't even know how old he is, Goh shouldn't catch him for a few more years"

"Well, you can catch up with each other when that time comes" Misty said, looking increasingly frantic "But right now, we have to find Caterpie and Pidgeotto, so-"

"Hey Pinsir, how's it going!?" Ash called out, cutting Misty off.

Pinsir jumped at his words, eyeing him with some hesitation. After a moment of just staring awkwardly Pinsir suddenly held up its arms defensively and threw a few air punches in Ash's direction, clearly trying to look intimidating even if its eyes betrayed to Ash that it wasn't really up to fighting.

"Pikapi… pi pika _*Um, Ash… he's not going to know who you are in this timeline, remember?*"_ Pikachu asked, looking bemused.

"I know, I just wanted to say hello" Ash said, smiling happily at Pinsir. He blinked and smiled even wider, suddenly getting an idea. He turned to Misty and held out his hands "Can you give Pikachu back for a second? There's something I want to do"

Misty held Pikachu close to her chest again and shook her head, pouting furiously. Ash sighed "It's important, trust me"

Misty glared at Ash for a few seconds, but eventually sighed and relented, passing Pikachu over to him "Well, alright. But just tell me you're going to chase Pinsir away so I don't have to look at him anymore"

"Er… something like that" Ash chuckled. Misty gave him a curious look as he started whispering something in Pikachu's ear that she couldn't fully make out.

Pikachu stared blankly at Ash for a moment, but eventually smiled and nodded, hopping down to the floor and slowly approaching Pinsir. Misty got behind Ash again, reaching anxiously for both Staryu and Starmie's pokeballs, and watched Pikachu communicate with Pinsir for a moment.

The bug-type eyed Pikachu suspiciously, but eventually seemed to calm down and gave a courteous nod to the mouse, and then eyed Ash carefully. It considered Ash for a long moment, and then went back to conversing with Pikachu. When they were finished, Pikachu gave Pinsir a nod and turned around to address Ash.

"Chu _*Ok, knock yourself out*"_ Pikachu said. Ash smiled, slowly approaching Pinsir and kneeling down about ten feet away from it. Pinsir took a step back initially, but seemed to settle down quickly and fixed Ash with a curious stare. Misty gawked at Ash, suddenly worried where this was all going.

"It's good to meet you, Pinsir" Ash said. Pinsir waved his hand weakly at him, and Ash gave the bug a warm smile "So, listen. You seem like a nice Pokemon, and I can tell you don't really like to battle much. A lot of trainers come through this forest looking for Pokemon to use at Gyms and stuff. And I don't really think you would want that, right?"

Pinsir tapped the side of his face and looked thoughtful for a moment, then eventually shook his head… or rather, most of his body.

"Okay then. Well, I have a friend named Goh. He's a really nice guy, and he'd love to meet a Pinsir like you, I'm sure of it. He wouldn't make you battle if you didn't want to, but he would look after you, and I'm sure you'd like him" Ash explained "So, I was just wondering… would it be okay if I could catch you, so I could give you to Goh later?"

"WHAT?!" Misty yelped, startling Pinsir somewhat. Ash ignored her.

"I don't think I'd be able to give you to him for a while, but I could send you over to Professor Oak's lab in the meantime. You'd like it there, he's got a big ranch, there's plenty of food, and you wouldn't have to worry about getting caught by anyone that would make you battle. I mean, ok, some of the Pokemon at the ranch do like to battle each other to get stronger, but I'm sure if you tell them you don't want to they'll understand, and you might make some friends" Ash reached out a hand to Pinsir, who stared uncertainly at it "What do you say? Do you like the sound of that?"

There was a long pause from Pinsir, who just continued to stare contemplatively at Ash's hand for a while. Ash kept smiling at him all throughout, and eventually, Pinsir readily took Ash's hand and shook it, offering an approving smile.

"Alright then, glad to hear it" Ash said, quickly pulling out a pokeball and holding it towards Pinsir "I'll send you over to Professor Oak's lab whenever I get to Pewter City. Professor Oak's pretty nice, so you'll be fine with him for a while. I'll call up and see how you're doing whenever I can. Goh will be really glad to see you eventually, trust me"

Pinsir hesitated for another brief moment, but eventually happily tapped a fist against the centre of the Pokeball. His body slowly turned into a mass of red light, which was absorbed into the pokeball. The ball wobbled around in Ash's hand for a second before letting out a loud "Ding!" to indicate that Pinsir had been successfully caught.

Ash held the pokeball up to his face, looking at it with a satisfied smile. He struck his signature "I got a Pokemon" pose.

"I caught... Goh's Pinsir!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu declared, striking his own pose besides his trainer.

Then Ash turned to Misty, who was staring furiously at him.

"… What…?" Misty began, eye's twitching and her voice shaky "… Was… that?!"

Ash gulped, scratching his head sheepishly "Uh… well. I just thought… you know, we might see Goh whenever we get to Vermilion City. And if we do, I'll want to remind him like I did you and Professor Oak. So, since we just found his Pinsir, I thought I might as well catch it now and give it to him early… or at least whenever he's old enough to be a trainer. At least that way, no one else could catch Pinsir before then…"

Misty groaned loudly.

"Okay… I guess that makes sense. Fair enough… but did it HAVE to be a Pinsir?!" Misty wined, shaking her head in absolute disgust "Pinsir are one of the creepiest bug Pokemon of all! You can't expect me to put up with that thing until we get to Pewter City!"

"I can keep him in the pokeball most of the time until we get there" Ash pointed out. Misty gave him a disapproving frown.

"But just knowing it's with us is going to make my skin crawl the whole way there" Misty groaned.

"You can still go back and take the bus?"

"I'm staying. Just…" Misty trembled "Just keep that thing away from me… the pokeball too"

"Okay, chill out" Ash said, decreasing the size of the ball and storing it in his jacket. Misty sighed, lowering her head. It shot back up again.

"Hey, you said Goh collects a LOT of Pokemon, right?" Misty asked. Ash nodded.

"Okay… are you going to be catching any more of them you find?"

"Might as well" Ash said, scratching his chin "It'd save Goh the trouble and he'd probably just be happy to see them again. And if he's going to end up helping us later on, it'd be good if he had as many of his Pokemon with him from the start"

"Okay, that's fine… but…" Misty hesitated, voice shaky "… Does he have any more bug types?"

Ash looked away, Pikachu giggling at how nervous Misty's question made him.

"… A few… he caught one of basically every bug type from Kanto the same day as Pinsir" Ash said, laughing weakly.

...

Misty looked absolutely mortified "YOU ARE NOT GOING AROUND CATCHING THAT MANY BUGS, ASH KETCHUM! NOT WHILE I'M AROUND ANYWAY!"

Ash took a few steps back, him and Pikachu now trembling from the absolute, fiery rage Misty was emitting. Ash held up his arms and shook his head rapidly.

"Okay, okay, I won't go looking for them" Ash said frantically "Honestly, I don't even know how many of them would have been born yet. I never thought we'd run into Pinsir here... I'm sure it wasn't this forest where Goh caught him. Sorry"

Misty took a few deep breaths, taking a while to calm down.

"Good…" She sighed, rubbing her forehead. Another rustling sound echoed, and Misty screamed, jumped forward and grabbed onto Ash, hugging him tight. Ash blushed and made to protest, but then noticed what had made the noise that startled Misty.

A small, green caterpillar with yellow circles across it's sides, crawling slowly out of the bushes and staring at the two humans with much curiosity.

Ash raised an eyebrow at the familiar bug type, then glanced at Pikachu, who was staring suspiciously at the Caterpie and sniffing the air. Pikachu's face quickly lit up, and he began nodding vigorously at his trainer.

Ash grinned widely.

"CATERPIE!"

Misty blinked and pushed back from Ash, taking in the look of absolute giddiness on his face. She hesitated for a moment and glanced in the direction he was staring. Instinctively she recoiled at the sight of the Caterpie, but it was short lived as she soon registered who it was and she actually managed a smile for the green caterpillar.

"Oh, alright… you can catch that one" Misty quipped.

Ash wasted no time in running up and scooping Caterpie into his arms, looking directly into the bug's face with an excited smile.

"Caterpie! It's so good to see you again!" Ash declared. Caterpie responded by making a sound that was impossible for the author to describe with words, then spitting string shot all over Ash's face, quickly cocooning his entire head.

Caterpie fell out of Ash's arms and began to wiggle away as Ash tried desperately to rip the silk off of his head. Pikachu hastily ran forward and tackled Caterpie, pinning him to the ground with his larger body so he wouldn't escape. Misty stared silently as the scene played out, a blank expression on her face initially, and eventually burst out laughing.

"Ok… you were asking for that one"

Ash finished ripping the silk off of his head and leaned down.

 _'… Are all of my Pokemon going to be doing this to me?'_ Ash wondered.

Lightly pushing Pikachu off the struggling Caterpie, Ash grabbed hold of the bug again and this time made sure to immediately focus his mind on the word _'Remember!'_

Caterpie went completely still, and Ash picked him up again. Turning Caterpie so he could look right into his face, Ash noted the glazed over appearance of the bug's eyes. After a moment Caterpie blinked, returning to his senses, and stared curiously back at Ash. Ash smiled warmly at his old friend, and Caterpie's eyes started to water.

"Hey buddy. Remember me?"

 _"*Ash!*"_ Caterpie cried, jumping up to nuzzle Ash's face. Ash laughed as the bug's affectionate rubs tickled his cheeks, happily stroking him and struggling to hold back tears. He relented on that pretty quickly.

Pikachu leapt up and punched the air with a cheer, bouncing around excitedly to have one of his old friends back. Even Misty was beaming at Ash and Caterpie, having slightly more success than her friend at holding back the waterworks but still looking very emotional.

After a whole five minutes of just hugging each other, Caterpie pulled back and Ash held him away from his face to get a better look at him. Caterpie was now blinking and staring down at himself.

"*… _Wait? Did_ _I die, and my life's flashing before my eyes? Because_ _I swear_ _I was_ _a Butterfree just_ _a_ _minute ago, and you definitely weren't here*"_

"You didn't die" Ash said, rubbing his eyes against his shoulders "Or… I dunno, I guess technically the world we lived in doesn't exist now, so… maybe?"

Caterpie stared blankly at his old trainer.

"… It's a long story. But to give you an idea, we travelled back in time, this is the day we first met, and that's why you're a Caterpie" Ash said.

Caterpie stared blankly at Ash for a bit longer, but eventually appeared like he was smiling at him.

 _"*Works for me*"_ Caterpie said cheerily "*I'm _just happy to see you again, it's been WAY too long. Like,_ _I_ _thought we'd be apart forever!_ _I_ _can't wait for Pink and_ _I_ _to introduce you to all our kids*"_

Ash blinked, looking away from the happy bug.

"Pi… pika… _*Oh… uh… Caterpie…*"_ Pikachu began awkwardly, but trailed off. Caterpie looked down at Pikachu and then stared silently at Ash for a few seconds.

"*… … … _Oh. Wait, we went back in time?*"_ Caterpie asked.

"Yeah" Ash nodded uneasily.

_"*So… my kids…?*"_

"They haven't been born yet. Sorry" Ash sighed. To the side Misty winced. She didn't need to understand what Caterpie was saying to get the gist of what he was talking about.

Caterpie blinked at Ash a few times, and then looked down with a miserable expression on his face. Ash clenched his teeth worriedly "But… they will be, don't worry. You'll see the pink Butterfree again soon before you know it! And then later we'll be back in our time, and your family will all be together again! I promise"

Caterpie perked up almost instantly _"*Yay! Then_ _I_ _can introduce you to everyone!*"_

"Uh… yeah, maybe" Ash said meekly, not wanting to upset the poor bug again.

"Pika, pii _*Wow, this turned awkward fast*"_ Pikachu whispered to himself, scratching his ear uncomfortably "Chu _*At least he's not_ _a_ _Kakuna*"_

 _"*Why would_ _I be_ _a_ _Kakuna? I'm_ _a_ _Butterfree*"_ Caterpie said simply "*… _I_ _was a Butterfree, I'm Caterpie now. And next I'll be_ _a Metapod, and then I'll be_ _a_ _Butterfree. But I'm pretty sure_ _I can't be a_ _Kakuna, so what's that about?*"_

"It's really nothing, don't worry" Ash shook his head. He sat down besides the bush and placed Caterpie down on his lap "You want me to explain everything?"

 _"*Sure, why not._ _I guess I'm not going anywhere*"_ Caterpie said non-chalantly.

"Ok, well… it's like this-"

* * *

_**(One** **increasingly** **tedious** **exposition** **dump** **later)**_

_"*Wow, that story is awesome!*"_ Declared an excited Caterpie "*… _Or at least, it would be awesome if it was just_ _a_ story. _But since it's real, YIKES! That's scary! Hope you stop this Bed-rocker guy and save the day, Ash!*"_

"Beyonder. And thanks, I'm working on it" Ash said. Caterpie made a few chirping noises, looking like he was thinking very hard.

 _"*Hmm… So, I'm supposed to help you save the world then?*"_ Caterpie asked.

"If you want" Ash said with a shrug. Caterpie chirped again, this time giddily.

 _"*Alright! My kids are going to think it's so cool that I'm out saving the world!*"_ Caterpie cheered.

"Pika _*Caterpie…*"_ Pikachu groaned tiredly.

 _"*Oh, right, they're not born yet*"_ Caterpie laughed. He hesitated for a moment "*… _Wait, I'm going to be meeting Pink again, right? How am_ _I_ _supposed to help you save the world if I'm going to be migrating to raise my family? I'm pretty sure_ _I_ _can't be in two places at once*"_

"Well… yeah" Ash said, scratching his head uneasily "I guess you could either just migrate again, or you could always stay with us this time until I win all the Leagues and stuff, and the world goes back to normal. But… that's probably going to take a few years, now that I think about it, so you'd probably be away from your family for a long time if you did that…"

Caterpie chirped softly _"*Huh… wow. Yeah, that would be tough…_ _I mean, this all sounds very serious, and_ _I_ _want to help you save the world._ _I really do! I'm so happy to see you again Ash, and Pikachu, and Misty over there too!_ _I_ _feel like_ _I_ _really should help you… but… wow, years without seeing Pink and my kids? That'd be awful!*"_

Ash looked down shamefully "… Yeah. I'm sorry Caterpie, I guess I really didn't think too hard about all of this. Honestly, I was just really excited I'd get to see you again after so long, I guess I didn't think…"

"Pika, Pikachu. Pipika pi _*We could always try having your mate come with us this time? You could both stay at Oak's Ranch to raise your family?*"_ Pikachu suggested, though not looking very confident about the idea. And neither did Caterpie.

 _"*Maybe… that'd be nice, actually. But…_ _I_ _dunno if Pink would agree to that. Not migrating when we go to start_ _a_ _family is_ _a big no-no to us Butterfree, so she'd probably get mad at me if_ _I told her that*"_ Caterpie explained meekly. He perked up _"*But_ _I_ _dunno, maybe if we tell her how much danger the world's in, she'd have to agree? There's no way she could say no with_ those _stakes!*"_

"Pika, Pikachu? _*You really expect her to believe us when we tell her the world got rebooted by an evil God from another universe?*"_ Pikachu asked.

 _"*Sure, why not? It sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it?*"_ Caterpie asked confidently. Ash and Pikachu fell silent, giving the bug odd looks. He drooped slightly "*… _Okay, maybe not. But we could try?*"_

Ash closed his eyes and scrunched up his face, thinking hard about what they should do.

"… How's about this" Ash said after a while "You can try and help me win my first couple of Gym badges, and then when we get to the place where all the Butterfree were migrating and you meet your wife again, you can ask her if she would stay with you at Professor Oak's Ranch. If she doesn't agree with that, maybe ask her if you can migrate somewhere differently this time where I can find you later. Like near Azalea Town in Johto, or somewhere in the Orange Islands? Then I can meet up with you both again after you have your kids and they grow up a bit, and maybe we can work something out from there so you can both travel with us again? At least, for a little longer?"

Caterpie crinkled his nose and mulled things over _"*Hmm…_ _I guess that could work? Worth_ _a_ _try, anyway. What do we do if it doesn't, though?*"_

Ash shrugged "You can decide that for yourself. If you decide to go away again, I won't stop you. I'm going to catch a lot of other strong Pokemon, and we'll all try really hard to make everything right again, so you don't have to worry too hard. You deserve to do what makes you happy, and that's all I want you to be"

 _"*Huh. Wow… thanks Ash*"_ Caterpie said softly _"*That's…really nice. Okay,_ _I guess_ _I won't worry about it too much right now, I'm sure things will work out._ I trust _you*"_

"Pi, Pikachu. Pikapi _*Gotta say, that plan's decently thought out on such short notice. I'm kind of impressed, Ash*"_ Said Pikachu. Ash laughed proudly.

"Hey, I can be smart all the time. I'm not a regional champion for nothing" Ash boasted. Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"Pikapika? _*You're getting_ _a big head about that lately, aren't you?*"_ Pikachu said teasingly.

"Would you prefer if I was depressed and whined about how hard everything was with all this crazy stuff going on?" Ash asked sarcastically.

"Piii! _*Pfft, no way*"_

 _"*Wait, we need to win some leagues, right?_ _I should_ _probably evolve and get strong right away then, right?*"_ Caterpie piped up.

Ash shrugged "Yeah, but take your time. We still need to find Pidgeotto before we can train"

 _"*Okay, but let me just get_ _a head start anyway*"_ Caterpie said, bouncing off of Ash. Ash watched curiously as Caterpie pointed his head upwards and fired a steady stream of string shot, quickly enveloping himself in a cocoon. Ash and Pikachu watched with anticipation as said cocoon began to glow, forming into a familiar shape. Seconds later, Caterpie now sat before them as a Metapod.

"… Huh? Alright then" Said a surprised Misty, who had been silently watching Ash and Caterpie from a few feet away and playing a game on her pokegear, wanting to give the two some space to catch up since she couldn't really communicate with Caterpie herself.

"Pika _*Neat*"_ Pikachu said with an approving nod.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Ash cheered, picking Metapod up and lifting him into the air proudly.

Misty gave an amused shrug "Now hopefully we don't need a repeat of the Beedrill incident for him to evolve again"

"Nah, I'm sure we'll be fine" Ash chuckled "What really are the odds of running into the Beedrill swarm again?"

A loud buzzing suddenly filled Ash and friends' ears, and they all looked up to see about a dozen large winged, yellow and black bug Pokemon observing them with their menacing red eyes. Misty, Ash and Metapod froze up in fear, while Pikachu just looked exasperated.

"Pika, Pikachu? _*Of all the stupid clichés, why'd you seriously have to go and invoke that one?*"_ Pikachu grumbled to his trainer.

"Hey… uh… Metapod" Ash stammered out, gulping loudly before he continued "Think you could evolve again and use sleep powder on them?"

"Met. Metapod _*Nope. Fresh out of evolutions right now, check back tomorrow*"_ Metapod answered quickly.

A bead of sweat appeared on Ash's face and he gave a nervous chuckle in response.

"Oh… okay then, good to know. Ha ha… RUN FOR IT!"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu all screamed loudly as they started running further into the forest, the Beedrill staring after them for a moment before chasing after the terrified travellers.

* * *

_***Team** **Rocket's** **Campsite***_

"How much longer is it going to take James? I thought we agreed we'd set out first thing in the morning" Jessie complained.

"Hold your Ponytas, it'll only take a couple more minutes. It's not my fault we all overslept a little" James grumbled back in response, currently halfway through pumping up the Meowth head balloon. Nearby, Meowth had his eyes closed and arms folded, humming a tune.

"The sooner the better. I already know what the first stop on our little expedition is going to be, and we're going to need to build ourselves a most formidable Mech on the way" Jessie said, rubbing her hands together and smiling deviously "When the Twerps get a load of the Pokemon we're going to catch, it'll knock their socks off"

"What do ya want wit' their socks? They probably won't fit your Mr Mime feet" Meowth quipped, not even opening his eyes. Jessie growled at him, glancing around for the hardest looking rock she could find to throw at him.

"It's just an expression, Meowth" Jessie said irritably "You know what those are, right? I mean we're going to beat the pants off of them"

"What do ya want with their pants, are we gonna humiliate them into surrenderin'?" Meowth laughed. Jessie put a hand on her hip and scowled.

"You think you're very funny, don't you?"

"I'm a first class comedian, t'anks for noticin'" Meowth said, still not opening his eyes.  
Jessie finally picked up a rock that looked suitable for her needs "You're a first class-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Jessie's retort was interrupted by a set of loud, terrified screams, and she and James turned just in time to see Misty, Pikachu and Ash holding a Metapod running in their direction.

"Heyteamrocketyoubetterrun!" Misty yelled hastily as they zipped past Team Rocket, still screaming as they retreated further into the forest just past the clearing where Team Rocket's camp had been set up.

Jessie and James stared after the frantic teenagers in stunned silence while Meowth just calmly peaked open his left eye and looked curious.

"Dat was the Twoihps, right?" He asked.

"Indeed. And they looked like they were in a hurry" James said, scratching his chin "Wonder what's got them so frightened"

Just then a buzzing sound filled the Trio's ears, and they all turned to see a swarm of Beedrill approaching rapidly.

The Beedrill came to a very abrupt halt in front of the three Rockets, the sound of a car suddenly breaking mysteriously echoing out as they did so, and they all turned to stare suspiciously at Jessie, James and Meowth.

The Trio blinked back at the Beedrill, staring blankly at them for a good five seconds before turning frantic. Jessie dropped the rock she had been holding.

"Uhhhh… they went that way" Meowth said, pointing meekly in the direction that the twerps had run off to. But the Beedrill only began buzzing louder, inching closer to the Rocket Trio.

"Oh come on! We haven't even done anything evil today yet!" Jessie complained. And then the Beedrill rushed forward.

Team Rocket's horrified screams echoed throughout the entire forest.


	5. Challenge of the Samurai: Take Two

_***Somewhere** **deep** **in** **the** **mountains,** **East** **of** **Cerulean** **City. April** **2nd, 12pm** **Kanto** **Time***_

Routes 9 through 10 of the Kanto region were well known for their series of large, steep mountains and winding trails between them. One particular set of mountains was found right at the dividing line of the Routes, with the only way to safely cross between them being through Rock Tunnel.

Safe being a relative term, of course. Rock Tunnel was infamous for being the so called darkest place in Kanto. Take ten steps into it from either side and one would find themselves completely engulfed by darkness. Coupled with the fact Rock Tunnel was home to a lot of fairly aggressive Pokemon and the tunnel wasn't a straight path, but a winding maze, it was a daunting task for anyone who didn't own a Pokemon that knew the move Flash to successfully navigate from one end to the next.

Naturally with this set up, most people who wanted to travel between Cerulean City and Lavender Town settled for simply going around the mountains, passing through Saffron City and its concurrent routes. The only people who bothered to enter the Rock Tunnel normally were Pokemon trainers looking to catch themselves a Cubone or Marowak, or otherwise test their courage and survival instincts.

Route 9 similarly offered little of interest to most people beyond some nice scenery and a few Pokemon to catch, being a popular place for Hikers to congregate in particular.

In the past there had been another reason people might have travelled along this route. Nestled in a remote part of the landscape, in an area that had long since had it's only convenient foot path blocked off by a landslide and could now only be accessed semi-conveniently by swimming a mile down a river to the North of rock tunnel, was a large, decrepit power plant.

For a few decades that Power Plant had been the primary source of electricity for Cerulean City, until one fateful day twenty years ago when a Zapdos had appeared and smashed through the windows, seemingly attracted by the large amount of electricity the place was generating.

Zapdos had started absorbing energy from the factory's generators, and when the plant workers attempted to chase it off, Zapdos flew into a rage and began wrecking the place, destroying much of the equipment and forcing the work force to flee.

Following that incident and the landslide, and the fact that a lot of wild Pokemon (In particular a lot of electric types like Magnemite and Electabuzz) seemed to decide to take up residence soon after, it was decided by the Kantonian Government to simply abandon the old Power Plant.

Cerulean City had experienced massive power outages for a day, but luckily emergency power was provided by a secondary Power Plant North of Cerulean cave, which had since been expanded to serve as a full replacement source of energy for the city and settlements North of it like Tumbleweed Town.

Few people ever even dared to put in the effort to reach the abandoned Power Plant these days. For a few years a lot of trainers had tried searching the place in hopes of encountering the Zapdos that caused the incident, but it became pretty clear to everyone after a while that the legendary thunder bird had long moved on, and unless one was an electric type enthusiast there wasn't much of a point braving the trip, when the only possible reward was the chance to catch a few electric type Pokemon you could easily find in other parts of the region.

Thirty seven year old Tyrone Rockwell, a proud Hiker, had been the first person to attempt the journey to the Power Plant for the past six months, wanting to win bragging rights among his drinking buddies by scaling the mountains separating the Plant from the rest of Route 9… an endeavour he was now regretting immensely.

Because when he had scaled the hills to the West of the plant, he had looked down to find the windows of the old building glowing an eerie blue colour. And the instant he had climbed down to the ground and tried to investigate, Tyrone had found himself surrounded by a quintet of round, orange robots with clear blue eyes, all seemingly materializing into existence through a flash of green light.

Two of the robots were carrying large lances, while two more held some kind of large ray gun, and all four had pointed their weapons right at Tyrone, who found himself paralysed with fear, not even noticing the fourth unarmed robot creep up behind him until it had delivered a powerful punch to his spine.

Tyrone had been too wracked with pain to register anything that happened for the next ten minutes, and the dreadful prospect that the robot's assault may have partially paralysed him gradually dawned on Tyrone as when his senses did start to return to him, he still couldn't feel his legs or command any movement in them… not that he could move most parts of his body very much at the moment anyway, because he was tied up in a chair.

The robots (Which he eventually recalled were known as Egg Pawns) had dragged him into the Power Plant, which rather than being a decrepit, abandoned old building with a lot of busted generators and other equipment, now seemed to be a fully operational factory.

There were a lot of moving conveyor belts and machines working to assemble robots in large numbers, many resembled the Egg Pawns that had abducted Tyrone, seemingly there were a number of variant models. Others appeared to resemble non-Pokemon animals like were common in Knothole and places like the Sol Empire off the coast of Alola, and in one far corner of the building there was an absolutely humongous half-finished mech of some kind.

Tyrone could hardly believe what his eyes were showing him. And the most worrying part of all of this was… he could think of a very good explanation for what was going on here.

He wasn't a hermit living in the woods with no contact with the outside world, he watched the news regularly… he recognised each of the robots being constructed in this undercover factory.

And he knew the face and name of the man who made them all… and Arceus help him, Tyrone would rather be literally anywhere else on the planet right now than in that monster's clutches.

"Ah, it appears our guest finally regained consciousness"

Tyrone jumped slightly in his seat at the smooth, slightly electronic voice, a spasm of pain erupting along his back as he did so.

"Goody! I can ask him for help with my crossword puzzles!" Replied a similarly robotic, but much more casual and ineloquent voice.

Tyrone had begun sweating bullets, his head shooting back and forth as he anxiously scanned the area for any sign of his captors. Eventually he caught sight of two objects on the ground and stopped swinging his head around to stare at them oddly.

One looked like an odd sphere that was red on top and black along the bottom, with two gray circles across the center that made it look like an oddly coloured Pokeball with two activation buttons. Next to this sphere sat a cube that was yellow along the top and black on the bottom in a similar fashion to the sphere, also having two gray spheres along it.

Tyrone balked at the two items on the ground. He would have looked away, they didn't LOOK very noteworthy… but something about them seemed to command his attention in that moment.

And for good reason, as it turned out, because after a few seconds of Tyrone staring at them, glowing rectangles of blue light suddenly spread across the gray circles on the sphere and cube, which began to flash on and off in a manner that suggested something blinking.

Tyrone gasped as the sphere and cube popped open, first revealing full faces with electronic mouths, then gradually extending to reveal small spherical bodies with thin arms and gloves that matched the colours of their headsets, with long thin stalks attaching their upper bodies to the black portions of their bottom sections.

The two objects now revealed to be a pair of robots stared up at Tyrone. The spherical one put its hands together in a manner that recalled a polite waiter, and seemed to have a meditative look on its inhuman face as it stared up at Tyrone. The cube robot just waved its hand and appeared to be giving him a big, goofy grin.

The only reaction Tyrone could manage to give at the sight of them was to gulp.

"Greetings, unfortunate human captive. My name is Orbot, and this is my trusted compatriot and younger brother, Cubot. Our apologies for the sudden and rude greeting and tying you to a chair and all, but you did stumble into our secret operations, and surely you understand we couldn't simply let you walk away and inform anyone about it" The spherical robot greeted in a sophisticated tone, bowing curtly before he continued.

"We especially apologize for most likely crippling you, but I'm sure a quick trip to the doctors could put you on the path to recovery if you get there fast enough… though, I suppose the master wouldn't agree to that given the circumstances, would he? Oh, that's too bad…"

"Yeah, that's kinda rough ain't it" The robot now identified as Cubot said, shaking his head and chuckling giddily. Cubot observed Tyrone's horrified, pleading expression carefully for a moment, then grabbed a newspaper that just happened to be sitting behind him, opening it up and grabbing a pen by his side.

Cubot gave Tyrone an expectant smile "So, mr hiker guy, you any good at crossword puzzles? Cuz I'm a bit stuck here and I could use some advice"

Tyrone didn't respond, simply clenching his teeth and whining quietly to himself as dread continued to build up inside him.

Cubot scratched his head, staring oddly at the captive human for a moment before breaking out in another goofy grin.

"I'll take that as a maybe!" Cubot declared, lowering his head to stare at the crossword section of his newspaper as the light of his eyes shrunk and narrowed in a way that made him look a lot more thoughtful "Okay, so it's number three I'm stuck on. I need a four letter word that can mean "To provide assistance" or "To ask for aid" depending on context, and I'm drawing a bit of a blank here. You got any ideas?"

"Help" Tyrone croaked, eyes raising to the ceiling as he silently prayed to the heavens.

Cubot craned his head and glared at Tyrone oddly "Help?" He repeated. The light in his eyes expanded suddenly to fill the full circles, and Cubot smiled again as he began excitedly filling in a column of his crossword puzzle "Yes, yes of course! HELP! That fits perfectly! Ah gee, thanks man, I've been trying to figure that one out all morning!"

"You could have just asked me" Orbot said plainly. Cubot made an "Eh…" kind of motion with the hand that was holding his pen.

"Yeah, but I'm always asking you to help me with this sorta stuff… I thought you could use a break from it" Cubot replied. Orbot put a hand to the small orb that was his chest piece, looking quite touched.

"My, my. How very thoughtful of you, Cubot" Said Orbot. Cubot grinned, scratching the top of his square head.

Tyrone was becoming increasingly perturbed at the casual conversation the two robots were having around him. Summoning all of his courage, Tyrone cleared his throat loudly to get both of their attentions.

"What…" Tyrone panted, realising his throat was very dry "… What are you… going to do with me?"

Orbot and Cubot craned their heads at the prisoner, the rectangular lights of their eyes shrinking in a way that gave the robots a very suspicious expression. Tyrone started to sweat again as the robots straightened themselves up, and Orbot gave a casual shrug.

"We won't do anything unless ordered" Orbot answered simply.

"Yeah, it's up to the boss to decide what to do with ya" Cubot added.

Tyrone felt his heart sink.

"Your… your boss?" He wheezed.

"That would be me"

Tyrone's expression froze, as he tepidly raised his head up to observe the source of the deeper voice emerging from the shadows.

The speaker was a tall, rotund man with spindly legs that didn't look like they should have been at all able to support his bizarrely oval shaped body. The man wore a spiffy red jacket with two golden buttons with white straps at either side of his chest, and black trousers that seemed to connect with his boots.

The man had a bald head, on top of which sat a pair of goggles, and he had a rather comically large, bushy brown moustache underneath a large, pointed pink nose. He had no eyebrows, and his eyes were completely obscured by a pair of blue tinted glasses with round lenses.

The almost cartoonish looking man had a most sinister grin on his face, his abnormal features contorting into a devious, hungry expression, which along with the slow, steady pace at which he approached the restrained Tyrone and the way he eagerly stroked his large, gloved hands together made him look like a predator moving in for the kill.

After what to the helpless citizen of Cerulean City felt like eons, the man with the large moustache finally stopped right in front of the chair Tyrone was strapped to. Following a low cackle, the egg-shaped man's expression turned more calm and collected.

He gave Tyrone a polite bow, then put his left hand on the seat just over Tyrone's shoulder, casually leaning down until his and Tyrone's faces were mere inches apart, his wicked grin returning in full force.

"Glad to see you're finally lucid, my dear rube" The man spoke in a pleasant, conversational tone, his voice deep and scratchy. Tyrone stared silently at his face, his mouth now dangling open, and the man with the moustache chuckled, speaking again with a more doting voice "How are you enjoying the accommodations? Ropes aren't too tight, are they? You'll have to excuse me if they are, it's been a while since I've had any guests over and none since we moved into this temporary base, so I'm a bit out of practice with this sort of thing"

Tyrone finally couldn't take it anymore and started screaming his head off.

The man with the moustache had surprisingly little reaction to this at first, not even flinching at the sudden high volume, merely raising the area above his right eye where there wasn't an eyebrow in curiosity.

After a moment of merely observing Tyrone scream with a quizzical expression, the man gave an amused smirk and opened his mouth wide to mimic his screaming, matching the pitch of Tyrone's scream of terror perfectly.

The Moustached man's scream turned into a jovial laugh towards the end however, which continued for almost half a minute after Tyrone had to stop screaming out of exhaustion.

"Ohohohoho! Yes!" The man said, slapping Tyrone's shoulder repeatedly in an endearing manner "Nothing like some good vocal exercises to keep the old evil laughs polished, eh rube?! Oho, you're a fun captive!"

The egg shaped man stood upright and clapped his hands together, still chuckling in delight as he put some distance between himself and the ensnared Tyrone, who was clenching his teeth.

While trying to move his hands he suddenly realized that they were tied together behind the chair, so Tyrone desperately started pulling his hands in both directions with all his might, hoping to break apart the ropes so he could begin untying the other sets of ropes strapping his body and legs against the chair.

When his big bald captive noticed what Tyrone was doing, the man shook his head and scoffed at him.

"Oh come now, even if you COULD break free, that wallop from my egg pawn took your legs out of commission. Even if by some miracle you could crawl out of here, you'd never get past the mountain, and I wouldn't recommend trying to swim up the river in your condition" The mustachioed man explained in a mocking tone, shaking his head some more and placing a hand over his forehead. Tyrone stopped struggling and glared at the man, whose glasses seemed to shine menacingly "Face it, my friend... you're screwed"

Tyrone's expression drooped, but despite the overwhelming fear coursing through him the hiker did somehow manage to keep a look of defiant fury in his eyes that he directed at the rotund thug.

The egg shaped man paid this no mind, simply stroking the right side of his large moustache for a bit before putting a hand proudly over his chest and standing tall.

"But where ARE my manners! I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I suppose I should get right to it, then" The man said, grinning with child-like enthusiasm.

"Actually boss, I think he already knows about ya. I don't think he'd have screamed so loudly if he didn't" Cubot innocently pointed out.

The man with the moustache moved his hand from his chest to his hip and glared at Cubot, even with his eyes completely obscured by his coloured glasses the gesture still somehow looked like it generated enough intensity to set a board of wood on fire.

Cubot flinched at his master's reaction, and Orbot swiftly covered his mouth and dragged him behind the chair Tyrone was strapped to out of sight.

"Monologuing is the highlight of the master's job, need I remind you. There's nothing in this world the good Doctor adores more than the sound of his own voice" Orbot said plainly, removing his hand from Cubot's mouth, prompting a nervous chuckle from the square shaped robot.

"Oh right. Guess that was kinda stupid of me to say then, huh?" Cubot said, scratching his head.

"As I was saying" The egg-shaped man grumbled. After clearing his throat and straightened himself, he continued with an even tone and an exuberant grin.

"I am Doctor Eggman, the world's smartest, handsomest, most brilliant scientist! Once a humble roboticist from the Johto region, I realized several years ago that, seeing as I AM superior to all other beings on this planet, it was only natural that I should be the supreme ruler of the Pokemon World! So I've made it my mission in life to conquer every region of this pitiful planet, and subject all of the substandard riff-raff such as yourself, building a new and better world order where there is no conflict or hardship: because you'd all be too busy bowing down to me... and honestly, I would have gotten around to making that a reality by now if it wasn't for that blasted hedgehog, and those unnatural superpowers the freedom-loving wretch doesn't deserve to have!"

The portly scientist calling himself Dr Eggman flipped from refined and eloquent to angry and gruff so quickly it almost gave Tyrone whiplash, and after that last comment about the hedgehog Eggman began stamping his foot, shaking a fist furiously through the air and grumbling unintelligibly.

It reminded Tyrone quite a lot of his toddler's first temper tantrum. And perhaps because of the surrealism of watching a grown man act like a spoilt child throwing a fit that someone else was playing with their toys along with his mounting frustration with his circumstances, the bearded hiker momentarily put all fear aside to furiously demand "What the hell are you even doing here!? You're not supposed to be here in Kanto! You never come out here: And we all don't WANT you here!"

Tyrone's righteous fury was short lived, and one look at the dreadful scowl the mad scientist known as Eggman was now shooting him shut Tyrone up again instantly, and the chilling sensation that rushed through his constrained body was so great it made it feel like his blood had turned to ice.

Dr Eggman stomped towards Tyrone's chair and grabbed the captive Hiker's shoulders, squeezing them so tightly Tyrone felt like a bone might soon shatter in each of them. Eggman's glasses seemed to shine, and he looked down at Tyrone with a furious scowl.

"Never. Interrupt. My. Monologues!" Dr Eggman said slowly and dangerously, in a tone of voice that loudly implied "Test my patience any more, and you'll wish you were dead!"

Tyrone forced his mouth shut and gave the cruel super villain an apologetic, groveling look. Eggman growled, huffing in a disgusted manner before releasing his grip on Tyrone's shoulders and walking away.

It was very difficult for Tyrone to not start panting heavily, as his heart raced at a mile a minute, but crippling fear made him desperate to remain silent.

"Well, if the poor man's life wasn't forfeit the moment he was dragged in here, it sure is now" Orbot commented off handedly from beneath the chair.

Cubot shook his head and wistfully added "And he was so good at crossword puzzles..."

Dr Eggman returned to the space he had just been standing and took a few calming breaths. After successfully regaining his composure, the villainous scientist tapped the side of his head a few times and shrugged carelessly.

"Your surprise at my presence here is understandable, though. I never really did care much for this unremarkable region, didn't really appear to offer too much of interest compared to a lot of the other ones" Eggman said, putting his hands together and giving Tyrone an amused grin.

Then his glasses seemed to flash for a moment.

"You see, despite my insurmountable brilliance and creative tactics... I keep hitting a lot of snags with my evil plots, and quite recently I suffered an especially embarrassing setback. About six months ago one of my own creations-Metal Sonic, you've probably heard of him-got a bit carried away and decided to try his own hand at conquering the world with his own evil scheme... He failed, of course. And depleted a very valuable set of resources at my disposal in the process"

"So, yeah... after that incident, and looking at just how many failed schemes of mine were piling up, I decided to lay low for a while. Recharge my batteries, come up with some fresh new ideas for conquest and try and find some more deep power stones to replace the ones Metal Sonic lost me... and hey, what do you know, turns out there were actually a bunch of places here in Kanto you can find them, and I never knew! How convenient, right!?"

Eggman began stretching his arms and cracking his back, chuckling darkly at Tyrone when he was done "You stopped by at EXACTLY the right time, actually! I'm all charged up and ready to get back in the evil supervillain business! I've been using this old power plant as just one of many hidden bases here in Kanto to stock up on robot minions to aid in my upcoming schemes, I think by now I have enough to serve my purposes until I've managed to produce enough of my latest brand of super weapons to conquer the Kanto region, and then Johto and Knothole with!"

"I'm just waiting on the results of a little test run with those new inventions to officially get started, actually" Eggman said, the grin he was giving Tyrone suddenly turning very cheeky, and in a teasing tone he concluded "If you had stopped by even a few days later, I would have already relocated to my main Kanto headquarters and took all my little toys here with me. And then you wouldn't get to experience what I'm about to do to you... quite fortunate you showed up when you did then, isn't it! Now you get to take part in history!"

 _'Well damn me and my stupid ego!'_ Tyrone furiously thought to himself. Of ALL TIMES to get wasted and make a crazy bet with those stupid neck beards at the pub!

...

"... Wait" Tyrone croaked, eyes expanding as the full weight of what his captor had just said sunk in "History..." Tyrone began to tremble "... Just... what are you going to do to me?"

Eggman giggled deviously, stroking his moustache as his grin widened to a length that shouldn't have been humanly possible.

"Eager to get started, are we?" Eggman asked, and Tyrone quickly regretted having said anything. Eggman rubbed his gloved hands together, a scheming look on his face "Well... I still have some more expositing I wanted to do, buuuut just this once, I'll cut it short. It would be cruel to keep you waiting, after all..."

The villainous scientist reached into his trouser pockets and pulled out some kind of remote. Eggman pressed a button on it, and suddenly Tyrone felt a small panic attack spike up as his chair began moving.

Taking ten seconds to come back to his senses, Tyrone looked downwards and realized that his chair seemed to be on some sort of conveyer belt. Not like the ones the under construction robots were on, this one seemed to be built into the floor.

Dr Eggman put his hands behind his back and casually started walking alongside Tyrone's now moving chair, whistling the lyrics of a song Tyrone didn't recognize. Orbot and Cubot were casually lying down on the conveyor belt behind Tyrone's chair, the former casually examining his fingers while Cubot just held his hands together and shook with anticipation.

Tyrone wasn't holding in the rapid breaths anymore.

This was it... Tyrone may not have known what plans exactly the egg shaped super villain had for him, but he was sure he wasn't going to survive it: Those two smaller robots said just as much.

Tears rushed down Tyrone's face, and an anguished whine accompanied his shallow breaths. He didn't want to die like this! He wasn't even really middle aged yet!

He'd never get to apply for that job opening that was coming up at the Pewter City Museum he really wanted. He wouldn't get to celebrate his fifth anniversary with his beloved Amelia. He wouldn't be there when their son started school, or got his trainer's license or met the person he might someday marry.

A whole life of possibilities and beautiful moments ahead of him... gone, just like that.

A big part of Tyrone begged, pleaded, prayed that someone would rescue him. Like that Sonic the Hedgehog fellow who always foiled this madman's big evil schemes, or Kanto's own resident superhero Gizmoduck...

But the rational part of Tyrone's brain told him that they weren't coming.

This wasn't a cartoon, or any kind of fictional story where the heroes always inexplicably show up at the last minute to keep anything bad from happening.

This was real life.

No one knew Tyrone was here right now... no one was coming to his rescue.

He was going to die.

Tyrone held back his mournful weeping, silently praying that with how bad his heart was thumping that maybe his body would give out on him before he experienced whatever Eggman had in store for him. Maybe that would be less painful.

Tyrone flinched as a hand suddenly landed on his left shoulder. He tepidly glanced up at his captor, who looked filled with pride as he pointed at something.

Tyrone's eyes followed the path of the Doctor's finger to spy a row of robots that looked uncannily like several different Pokemon. There were robot Scythers, Tauros, Rhydons and at least three robot Alakazams.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Eggman said in an amorous tone "They're just a few of my latest creations. You're very lucky to be the first human besides me and my nephew to lay eyes upon them. Won't be long before everyone in the world recognizes them as the instruments of my conquest!"

Tyrone stared at the face of one of the Metal Alakazams as his chair slowly passed the pedestals the robot Pokemon sat on. The sight of the unholy contraptions made him shiver and recoil his head.

Tyrone wasn't against robots or automation or anything, he was all for advanced science... but the thought of artificial Pokemon being utilized by someone like Eggman just felt wrong on so many different levels to him.

Tyrone didn't really have much time to dwell on what exactly bugged him about the concept though, as soon after the conveyor belt beneath his chair finally stopped moving.

With a defeated sigh, Tyrone looked in front of him to spot what was no doubt the instrument of his demise: Some sort of large, glass tube atop a round metal pedestal of some kind, with a metal roof.

Tyrone furiously pulled against the ropes tying his hands together once again. Still no luck breaking them.

The frustrated Hiker swore loudly.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Eggman asked Tyrone indignantly. He shook his head and waltzed over to the tube contraption, tapping the glass a few times and shooting Tyrone a smug grin.

"This right here is another little pet project I've been working on for years... I give you the Roboticizer!" Eggman declared dramatically, extending one hand into the air. Tyrone cocked his head, staring incredulously at the contraption, prompting Eggman to continue "In theory, this little baby could be one of my most useful inventions ever. Two minutes inside the roboticizer, and any organic lifeform will be converted into a robot!"

Tyrone's jaw dropped and his eyes nearly bulged right out of their sockets.

Noticing something shine in the corner of his eyes, Tyrone looked to the left of the tube contraption to see a large number of metallic Pokemon lined up against a wall, mostly electric types like Magnemite, Voltorb and Electabuzz.

They weren't like the robot Pokemon Tyrone had just been shown, though. Those looked like they could actually move and their metal coating matched the colour schemes of the creatures they were based on perfectly. These Pokemon though we're completely gray and looked more like statues.

"Yes... as you can see, the Roboticizer is still a work in progress" Eggman said, noticing what Tyrone was staring at "Up to now it's only been good for turning things into big hunks of metal, not functioning robots"

Eggman flashed Tyrone a toothy grin "But after tweaking it a bit the past couple of hours, this time I'm SURE I've finally cracked the code to make it work! So fortunate that a perfect volunteer such as yourself just happened to show up, isn't it?"

Tyrone violently shook his upper body around and screamed his head off, ignoring the pain this caused in his back.

Eggman groaned and rubbed his forehead, looking very annoyed at that reaction. He grabbed Tyrone by the hair on the back of his head and punched him square in the face, with such amazing force it almost knocked Tyrone right out, and did succeed at silencing him and sending him into a daze.

"Come now, rube... there's no need to be so melodramatic. You should be proud! If this works, you'll be the first person in history to ever be successfully converted into a machine. Do you know how groundbreaking that is! You'll be famous! And a great, mindless servant for me!"

"And if it doesn't work, he should still make for a very fine coat rack. Or something along those lines" Orbot said sarcastically, he and Cubot stepping out from behind Tyrone's chair.

"Exactly!" Eggman said, gesturing approvingly at the sassy robot "Ah, Orbot. Be a bro and remove these ropes from our guest, would you?"

Orbot nodded at the instruction and pointed an index finger at the set of ropes around Tyrone's legs. The tip of that finger opened up, leaning back on a hinge, and a thick red laser shot out of it, cutting through the ropes quite handily.

Within about half a minute, Orbot had used his finger laser to cut through all the ropes confining Tyrone to his chair, as well as the ones around his hands which both fell limp near the floor as Tyrone was still dazed.

Dr Eggman proceeded to press a few buttons under a computer monitor mounted on the wall next to the Roboticizer, and a part of the glass along the front of the enormous tube opened up, revealing a see through door that was human sized.

Eggman then proceeded to grab Tyrone by the throat, drag him over to the roboticizer and toss him inside, slamming the door shut afterwards.

Eggman returned to the monitor on the wall and began pressing some more buttons.

"If the roboticizer actually works this time, it'll be a huge boon for my operations! Acquiring materials to build new robots on the black market can be such a hassle" Eggman said, pressing one last button before staring down at Tyrone through the glass "I'm sure you'll make a great mindless drone, rube!"

Tyrone groaned loudly, barely starting to regain some of his senses when he noticed some kind of blue light start shining from the ceiling of the contraption he had been sealed in.

Panic overtaking him, Tyrone desperately tried to get up... only to collapse in agony as his spine decided to remind him he couldn't actually walk right now. Gritting his teeth so hard he thought they might have cracked slightly, Tyrone instead began desperately banging his hands against the glass of the Roboticizer.

Orbot and Cubot approached the Roboticizer, staring at the poor hiker from the opposite side of the glass. Tyrone have them a pleading look.

"Please... Please let me out, I'll do anything!" Tyrone cried, banging the glass a few more times and bursting out in a fresh round of tears "... I don't... I don't want to die..."

"I'm truly sorry, but there's nothing we can do now" Orbot said gently, shaking his head "Once the Roboticizer is activated, nothing can turn it off"

Tyrone quickly ceased sobbing and stared hopelessly at the round robot.

"I look forward to working with you, fellow robot!" Cubot said jovially. After a long moment of silence he rose a finger and added "... Assuming it actually works and doesn't just make you a statue. In which case... bye bye, Mr Hiker Guy! It was nice knowing ya!"

The light from above Tyrone intensified, and several waves of blue energy wafted down through the tube he was sealed in. Tyrone gasped

"Please... Please, I can't die, I have a family!"

"Why, that's wonderful!" Eggman yelled, looking delighted "If the experiment's a success, I can have you drag them all here, and we'll turn them into robots too! More minions!"

Tyrone's jaw dropped. The only other reaction he had time to make was to scream in terror as the entire tube of the Roboticizer was filled with a blue light. Tyrone Rockwell's screams faded quickly, as the blinding light of the Roboticizer spread out and engulfed much of the surrounding area of the makeshift robot factory.

The light continued to shine for about two full minutes before subsiding very abruptly. Eggman put his hands together and pressed his face against the glass, gleefully looking down at his helpless captive, whose body had been transformed entirely into solid, gray metal.

The smile slowly faded from Eggman's face however, replaced by a ponderous look as he realized the now metal man wasn't moving in the slightest and seemed to have a perpetually screaming expression on his face, and a distinct lack of glowing eyes.

Pulling open the door to the roboticizer, Eggman kneeled down and tapped the metallized Tyrone's head a few times, producing a series of clanging sounds. Eyeing Tyrone's still metal body up and down, the mad scientist heaved a disappointed sigh.

"Ah, crud... another statue" Eggman assessed. He rubbed his forehead, looking down at the not quite robotic Tyrone in bemusement "And I was so confident I was finally on the verge of a breakthrough... oh well, guess the history books won't have anything to say about this poor rube after all"

"A pity, but I'm certain you'll get it right eventually, sir" Orbot piped up, prompting Eggman to wave a hand around in an "Eh" sort of fashion.

"Obviously, I'm a super genius. It's never a matter of "IF" I can invent something, so much as "When" I successfully make it. I'm just sick of waiting for that day to come with this blasted thing" Eggman griped, smacking the glass of the failed roboticizer.

Rolling his eyes beneath his glasses, the rotund Doctor grabbed the metallized Tyrone by the legs and dragged him out of the Roboticizer, and with impressive strength Eggman effortlessly spun the metal man around and tossed him over to the row of metal Pokemon, crashing into them with a powerful clunk and causing them to collapse into a heap.

Removing a cloth from his trouser pocket to wipe some dust off of his gloves, Eggman started to walk away, and would have paid no further mind to the big hunk of metal that moments ago had been a living, breathing person if Cubot had not quickly asked "So, what'cha wanna do with Mr Hiker Guy then? Should we bury him and give him a funeral?"

"Do what you want, he's of no use to me now" Eggman said, waving his hand dismissively. But then he began scratching his pointed nose and humming thoughtfully "Although... that does seem like a waste of perfectly good material. Send him to be melted down with the Pokemon statues, we could always make more badniks out of him... or better yet, a new coffee maker! I needed a new one of those! Ohohoho!"

Orbot and Cubot blinked up at their creator, glanced over to statue Tyrone and the metallized Pokemon and stared wordlessly at them for a moment, then turned to Eggman again.

Orbot shrugged "Well, at least he'll be useful"

"If there's enough of him for two coffee makers and I'm feeling generous enough come Christmas, I might even send one of them to that family he mentioned as a gift" Eggman suggested, still scratching his nose. He snorted and shrugged his shoulders "Assuming the roboticizer's not working by that point, if it is I'll just turn them into robots instead, and they can do all the labour he would have done for me. Heh heh"

Dr Eggman spent the next minute giggling wickedly over that last suggestion, and shortly after he was done a door slammed open at the other end of the power plant, where the executive office the Doctor was using as a bedroom was located. What looked like a computer screen attached to a long metal stalk with a roller skate at the bottom emerged through the opened door and made its way over to Eggman, stopping directly in front of the Doctor.

 **"Incoming call from Snively from Tumbleweed Town, Doctor! Would you like to take the call?"** A feminine voice spoke out from the portable computer device.

"Ah, about damn time! I was wondering what was taking that lazy good for nothing so long" Eggman said, rubbing his hands together deviously "Yes, yes! Put him on!"

 **"As you wish, oh glorious future emperor"** The feminine voice replied, and the screen of the computer lit up to show a live feed of a short, mostly bald man with a long nose wearing a green shirt standing in a dark room.

The long nosed man saluted Eggman, looking perpetually deadpanned as he said "Agent Snively reporting in, dear uncle"

"SNIVELY! My favourite nephew! Always a delight to hear from you!" Eggman declared jovially, wearing the fakest of smiles. Snively looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes and make a snarky comment about his claims.

"You flatter me, uncle" Snively said dryly. Clearing his throat, Snively put his hands together and gave Eggman a meditative look "The test run for the first Metal Pokemon prototypes has been completed, sir... Sonic and Tails aren't dead"

"Ah" Eggman grunted, grinding his teeth and fiddling with his moustache "... Well, disappointing but hardly unexpected. Did they at least give the two a good thrashing while they were at it?"

"See for yourself. I'm about to transmit the footage" Snively replied, leaning closer to the video screen and reaching for something off-camera. Seconds later, the computer screen went fuzzy for a moment before showing footage of Sonic and Tails fighting Metal Alakazam and the twin Metal Houndooms on Route 11.

Eggman leaned into the screen and observed the footage closely with a thoughtful expression, nodding along to the robotic Pokemon's efforts to combat the two Freedom Fighters, and laughing whenever one of them got a good hit in on the blue hedgehog who was his archnemesis. The part where Metal Alakazam repeatedly slammed Sonic against the ground using psychic especially brought the Doctor a great deal of glee.

"Hmm" Eggman hummed curiously as the footage of the battle concluded, and his nephew's face returned to the screen. The mustachioed scientist grinned proudly "All things considered, that didn't go so bad... I mean sure, it's infuriating that Sonic is still alive... but Metal Alakazam almost had him there! I daresay if Tails hadn't been around, Sonic might have ACTUALLY died there! HAHA! This is about as good a result as I could have hoped for from a trial run! And these are just the prototypes... just IMAGINE what I could do with a whole ARMY of top tier Metal Pokemon! Ohohoho!"

"I'll freely admit, the Metal Pokemon are rather impressive" Snively said, nodding begrudgingly "But I'm pretty sure even with the many deep power stones we've collected the past six months, we still don't have nearly enough to build as many of these monstrous contraptions as you were hoping for"

"We will as soon as you're done digging up the whole of Mt Moon!" Eggman laughed defiantly, slapping the side of the computer screen and grinning like a madman. Which he definitely was "According to my research, those mountains are a variable goldmine! And now that we're at the brink of enacting my big master plan, you're free to forego subtlety at last. Raze the entire mountain range if you have to! And if the stupid pink fluff balls living there get in your way, enslave them all! I'm sure they'll make wonderful test subjects!"

"If you insist" Snively said, looking a tad conflicted. Like on the one hand, he questioned whether his eccentric employer's brash plans were really a good idea... while on the other hand, a part of him did find the prospect of leveling a national landmark quite enticing.

At any rate, Snively gave a curt bow to the video screen and said "Give me roughly a week to finish preparations, and I'll mine the mountains dry... just make sure to have a suitable distraction at play so that Sonic and Tails don't come barging in at a moments notice"

"Ohoho! Excellent!" Eggman declared, wildly throwing his hands up into the air "WATCH OUT, HEDGEHOG! Your days are numbered!"

"Will that be all, dear uncle?" Snively inquired. Eggman waved dismissively at him, chortling wickedly.

"Yes, yes, get going! Call me back when you have more good news" Eggman said impatiently. Snively shrugged his shoulders and saluted.

"Well, alright then. Snively out" Snively said, and the computer screen quickly blackened. The portable computer proceeded to flip around and roller skate back where it came from.

Eggman rubbed his hands together and giggled wickedly for a moment after before rounding on Orbot and Cubot.

"Pack your bags, boys. Later today we're going to start relocating: It's especially not safe to stick around too long now, since people are probably going to come looking for that hapless rube after a while"

"Yes, sir" The two robots said before bouncing off somewhere. When they were out of his sight, Eggman turned to the pile of metal statues that had once been living creatures. A cheeky smile spread over his face as he approached the heap, kneeling down to pat metal Tyrone on the head.

"Well rube, it appears you won't be of much use to me after all. But don't threat" Eggman said sweetly, stroking the statue's screaming face "Even without the roboticizer working properly, my master plan can still move forward... Yes, it won't be long now at all. Heh heh heh"

Dr Eggman rose to his feet and walked away, coming to a stop shortly after by one of the unfinished Metal Alakazams, whose cheek he also stroked.

"Soon, I will finally destroy Sonic the Hedgehog... then Kanto will kneel before me as its supreme ruler. And the whole WORLD soon after it!"

And thus, the evil Doctor threw up his hands and laughed maniacally.

* * *

_***Solaceon** **Town.** **9.57am** **Sinnoh** **Time***_

Exiting the front door of the daycare lugging a large backpack, Angie took in a deep breath of fresh air, admiring the clear blue morning skies and enjoying the feel of the sun on her face as she exhaled.

"You guys ready for adventure?" Angie asked the two Pokemon trailing behind her.

"Shinx!" Shinx responded enthusiastically.

"Buneary" Buneary said, quieter but hardly less excited.

Following their little interaction the previous evening, Buneary had stuck close to Angie right up until she went to bed, opting to sleep there along with Shinx. When Angie had gotten up earlier in the morning she had explained to Buneary that she would have to be leaving and they might not see each other again, which Buneary had gotten really upset about and started clinging to Angie's leg and pouting like a child.

It didn't require speech to make it clear that Buneary wanted to stay by Angie's side, either because it felt safe with her or because it had grown attached to the tomboy during the night, possibly both.

So after getting the okay from her parents, who were amazed at Buneary's rapid recovery, Angie had agreed to take the bunny along with her. She was all too happy to have another small piece of her home region to take with her on what was sure to be a long journey, even if she hadn't known Buneary for very long.

Angie wasn't sure yet if Buneary would let her catch her, much less if Buneary would want to battle with her after that beating she had taken from those poachers. But Angie wouldn't mind if she didn't, just happy she could help the poor Pokemon out after such a dreadful experience and that it hopefully wouldn't hate humans now because of it.

Angie smiled at her two Pokemon friends, leaning down to give them a few head pats (Buneary had still been hesitant for a moment, but relented after some encouragement from Shinx) before bounding forward and examining the brown car by the side of the road.

Her father was currently checking the pressure of the tyres, doing some last minute checks to make sure the car was in top condition for the trip. They would be driving to Veilstone City first, spending the night with some of her father's old Pokemon school friends. Then tomorrow morning they'd be setting out early and arriving at the town by the Valor Lakeside hopefully by the late afternoon if nothing slowed them down. Then at about seven tomorrow evening, Angie would depart by cruise ship to Vermilion City.

Angie's father noticed his daughter staring expectantly at him and gave her a smile "All ready to go, I take it?"

"All set" Angie nodded.

"Just give me a minute and you can hop in" Angie's father said, going back to checking the tyres.

Angie turned around to see her mother exiting the house and stopping in front of her, looking her up and down. She looked a tad wistful, but also proud.

"I meant it when I said I always knew this day was coming. But I can't say it doesn't still hurt a little to see you go" She said, giving Angie a small, sad smile "I don't think any mother is ever ready to see her child leave home. But, it has to happen eventually, we all need to go out into the world and learn independence eventually. Nothing would indicate I've failed at my job if you never did. I can't say I'm not going to worry about you-of course I am. You're going so far away on a Pokémon Journey, Arceus knows what could happen… but I'm going to wish you the best all the same. Because I trust you, Angie, and I'm sure whatever you end up doing out there in the world, you'll make your father and I proud. Prouder than I already am to see you off today, even"

After taking a moment to hold back tears, Angie rushed forward and gave her mother a big hug, smiling into her shoulder "Mom… I… thank you. That means… that means a lot. Really"

Angie's mother smiled warmly, returning the hug with one hand and raising the other to ruffle Angie's hair "I should hope so… I was up two hours past midnight trying to think of exactly the right words to say"

Ten seconds after that exchange Angie pulled away, wiping away the tears that had just managed to escape her and chuckling happily at her mother "Well… it paid off"

Angie and her mother both laughed for a good minute, Angie's father watching from the sides with an approving smile. He waited for the pair to stop laughing to loudly clear his throat and get their attention "We really do need to be going. We really don't want to wait too long and get to Veilstone right in the middle of rush hour"

"Okay dad, just a sec" Angie said, opening the front door and dumping her backpack on the passengers' seat. She picked up Shinx and opened up one of the back doors, motioning for Buneary to jump in.

Buneary hopped in and got comfortable in the seat directly behind the driver's seat, and Angie sat down next to her, carefully fastening a seatbelt around the rabbit. When Buneary looked uneasy about being strapped down however she unbuckled the belt, put Shinx down for a moment and offered Buneary the seat on her lap instead.

Eventually after some coaxing Buneary climbed onto Angie's lap, and Shinx ended up being buckled in besides her instead.

"Don't feel like being restrained right now?" Angie asked, taking Buneary's nervous shaking as a yes. Angie carefully scratched the tips of Buneary's ears and she calmed down.

Angie's father entered the car soon afterwards, while her mother approached the window by her seat and leaned down so her head was about even with her daughter's. As Angie's father ignited the engine, Angie pressed a button to lower the window.

"Have fun at Winry's, dear. And don't forget to call us often, I want to know all about how your journey goes" Angie's mother said.

"I will mom, promise" Angie nodded. Her mother smiled kindly at her.

And then a cheeky look appeared on the woman's face "… Of course, try not to have too much fun with that friend of yours"

Angie gave her mother a perplexed look, and she began scratching her ear, standing up straight and smirking innocently "Nothing against Ash, I'm sure he's a polite and responsible young man… just be safe about it, is all I'm saying. I'd like to think I'm still a few years too young to be called a grandmother"

Angie's face lit up as Buneary, Shinx and her father all started giggling loudly "MOM!"

"Sorry, sorry… I couldn't resist" Angie's mother said, putting a hand to her mouth and stifling a laugh. Angie rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated groan, still red as a Magikarp.

"You know, there's a million things I'm going to miss about Solaceon Town and the Daycare… your jokes aren't one of them" Angie told her mother bluntly.

"It'll be the last one, I promise. I just had to get it out of my system before you went" Angie's mother said, shaking her head. After giving her daughter a moment to recover from that bit of awkwardness she smiled warmly and added "All jokes aside, I wish you the best, and I hope you learn a lot from this experience. I love you, Angie"

Angie smiled softly "Love you too mom…"

Soon after that exchange, Angie closed the window and her father started driving. Angie watched as her mother stood by the road, waving goodbye to her daughter and husband. Angie returned the gesture, keeping her eyes on her mother before she and the Daycare she had called home for sixteen years eventually faded into the distance.

Angie turned to stare at the back of the seat in front of her, looking downcast. She felt a rustling in her lap and looked down to see Buneary nuzzling her head against Angie's chest, offering the green haired teen a comforting smile. Angie smiled back at her, turning to face Shinx who had a similar expression.

"Everyone feels uneasy at first, leaving home" Angie's father piped up from the driver's seat, looking at her through the rear-view mirror "But it's not like this is goodbye forever, Angie. We'll be right here when you get back. I promise. Just focus on what's ahead, and I'm sure you'll be fine"

Angie nodded at her father, looking out the window and gazing out at the countryside.

As sad and nervous as she felt just now, the further away from the Daycare they got… the more those feelings were drowned out by excitement and mounting anticipation for all the adventures she and Ash were going to have together.

This was her big chance to go out and see the world… and Angie swore to herself that she was going to make the most of it.

* * *

_***Viridian F** **orest, April** **2nd.** **8.30pm***_

"Haha-okay, Pidgeotto, that's enough!"

Misty watched on with an amused smile as Ash sat on the ground, struggling to sit up as he was aggressively nuzzled by a very happy large bird Pokémon, who just cooed loudly in response to Ash's words and started fussing over him even harder.

About ten minutes of non-stop sprinting after they had passed by Team Rocket, Ash, Misty and Pikachu had finally come to a stop and concluded that the Beedrill swarm had, hopefully, given up on chasing them.

They'd already had a pretty good hunch that at least some of them had given up the chase in favour of bothering Jessie, James and Meowth, but they had kept running just to be sure they were safe.

After catching their breaths, and realizing they had lost track of where they were on the map Misty had brought with her from the Pokémon Center, Ash, Misty and Pikachu spent the next few hours wandering around Viridian Forest, anxiously trying to get a sense of where they were while still avoiding another encounter with the Beedrill (Though they had briefly encountered a few other bug Pokemon that got Misty screaming a few times).

Eventually they realized that the Pokegear Misty owned in this timeline actually had a pretty good GPS feature that allowed its map app to show them exactly where they were in the forest.

"… Gee, this would have saved us so much trouble in the past" Ash had griped. Misty had been too frustrated with herself for not remembering how her Pokegear worked to say anything.

After that, the group instead changed course to searching around for Ash's Pidgeotto, which unfortunately the Pokegear couldn't help them with. Metapod had given some good advice on where bird Pokemon were typically known to gather and nest in Viridian forest, but for several hours their efforts had been fruitless.

About ten minutes ago they had stopped in a large field full of flowers with an enormous Cherry Blossom tree in the center of it, and had been ready to set up their sleeping bags at the base of said tree and call it a night.

But then a loud cooing sound had caught Pikachu's attention, and when he pointed at up at a branch in the Cherry blossom tree, Ash had spotted a Pidgeotto. One he recognised instantly from its blue aura as the very Pokémon they'd been searching for.

Pidgeotto hadn't initially come around easily. When Ash called out to it, Pidgeotto had mostly ignored him, and Pikachu's attempts to talk her into flying down to the ground just resulted in Pidgeotto taking flight and circling around the flowery field for five whole minutes, leading Ash, Misty and Pikachu to chase after her desperately.

Eventually, Ash relented to Pikachu's suggestion to launch a thunderbolt at the bird. Pidgeotto had cried out in pain and faltered from the attack, but managed to remain airborne afterwards. It didn't however recover from the sudden shock in time to avoid an expertly aimed pokeball from Ash.

Which all lead to Ash restoring Pidgeotto's memories and getting tackled to the ground by the Cherry Blossom tree as Pidgeotto smothered him in affection.

"Pidgeo! * _I'm just so happy to see you Ash!*_ " Pidgeotto cooed. Ash just laughed some more and resigned himself to the bird cuddles for a good seven minutes before Pidgeotto finally seemed to calm down enough to jump off and give him some space. Ash stroked Pidgeotto's head as she now got a better look at her trainer and cocked her head at him "To? *Y _ou sure look older…*_ " She stretched out her left wing and contemplated it for a moment "... Pidgeotto? *… _Yet I think I shrunk… and did you just call me Pidgeotto?*_ "

"Um… you do remember the life you were living up to now, right?" Ash asked. Pidgeotto thought about that for a moment and blinked.

"Pidgeo! Tto? * _Oh, yeah! I haven't evolved yet… wait, why do I remember living two lives? What's going on?*_ " Pidgeotto gave Ash an imploring look.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you more about it later. But the main thing is, we all travelled back in time… kinda. The world's in trouble because of a guy called the Beyonder, and I have to fix it, so I'm going to need your help for a while, at least until we compete in the Indigo League again" Ash explained. Pidgeotto blinked and nodded slowly.

"Caw... pidgeo * _Oh… okay, I guess that makes sense, all things considered… time travel though, wow. That's weird*_ " Pidgeotto said, earning a loud, sarcastic laugh from Pikachu.

"Pika. Pikachu * _This is like the third to fifth time we or someone we know time travelled. You wouldn't believe how crazy life got for us after you left*_ " Pikachu said. Pidgeotto stared silently at him for a moment.

"… Pid *... _Well, you've probably got some interesting stories to tell me*_ " Pidgeotto said, in what Ash considered the understatement of the century "… Coo? * _So, you need my help with something?*_ "

Ash nodded "Yeah, about that… just a second"

Ash pulled out a Pokeball (Store bought, because he'd realized too late Professor Oak had forgotten to give him any) and released Metapod. He and Pidgeotto looked at each other and smiled. Or, Metapod looked like he might be smiling if he had a mouth, anyway.

"Coo? * _Butterfree, right?*_ "

"Pod * _I will be by tomorrow, probably*_ " Metapod made a nodding motion "Metapod * _How's it going, Pidgeotto? Anything interesting happen with you while I was gone?*_ "

"Pidgeo. Caw, caw * _Mostly same old, same old while I was with Ash. And then after the league I evolved, fought off this really rotten Fearow whose gang was bullying a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto, and then I took over as the leader of that flock for a couple of years. It was pretty sad to leave Ash*_ " Pidegotto explained, looking down with a slightly wistful expression at that last part "… Otto. Pidg *... _But, hey, it wasn't so bad. I felt like I did a lot of good while I was leader. I even beat up some poachers a bunch of times*_ "

"Meta * _Wow, that sounds pretty cool*_ " Metapod said. Pidgeotto cooed proudly.

"Coo...? * _I guess I am, aren't I… how about you, how'd married life treat you?*_ " Pidgeotto asked. Metapod perked up.

"Meta. Pod, Metapod! * _It was fun. Pink and I had three hundred and sixty two kids, and more than half of them were already evolved before time got reset. We went to this really nice region called Galar, it's a fun place. One time I even flew through this big purple light and turned into a giant!*_ "

"Wow, you dynamaxed!? That's so cool!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pod * _There's a name for it? Neat, I didn't know*_ " Said Metapod.

"Chu * _He said purple light, so I think that means he Gigantamaxed, actually*_ " Pikachu pointed out.

"Even more awesome!"

"Pod! Meta... Pod _*Yeah, it was pretty cool! Um… except for the part where these four trainers showed up and attacked me with their Pokemon for some reason*_ " Metapod said, shaking nervously. A moment later he leaned back proudly "Metapod! _*But I showed them! I hit them all with this super strong gust attack that blew them all away!*_ "

"Caw! _*Good show!*_ " Pidgeotto declared, saluting Metapod. Ash laughed.

"That's my Butterfree!" Ash said proudly. Metapod blushed.

"Meta... Pod _*Aw shucks, it was nothing… wish I could have been giant longer though, it didn't last after that*_ " Metapod sighed. Ash smiled at him, and then suddenly his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as a realization hit him.

"Wait… YOU HAVE THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO KIDS?!"

"Pidgeot... Otto? _*Huh… yeah, actually that does sound excessive. I know Butterfree usually reproduce in high numbers, but seriously?*_ " Pidgeotto said oddly to Metapod. Metapod made a shrugging motion.

"Met _*Heh heh… We were an especially busy pair*_ " Metapod chuckled. Pikachu shook his head in disbelief.

"Pikachu _*I'm surprised you guys hadn't caused a national food shortage by the time we went to Galar*_ " Pikachu snarked.

It took Ash about five minutes to recover from his shock at Metapod's revelation, after which he forced his dropped jaw shut and coughed loudly to get all of his Pokemon's attention fully on him. Pikachu, Metapod and Pidgeotto formed a line as Ash stood before them, all staring expectantly at their trainer.

"Okay, so" Ash began "Pidgeotto, you asked why we got sent back in time. Or rather, I got sent back in time and I made you guys remember our old lives. Well, the thing of it is, the world got messed up by this really bad guy called the Beyonder, and it's up to us and all of our friends to do what we can to fix it. To do that, we need to train hard and get really strong! The strongest any of us have ever been! We need to beat Team Rocket once and for all, and all the other evil teams like them, and we need to win as many regional leagues as we can too!"

"Meta! _*We won't let you down!*_ " Metapod called out enthusiastically.

"Chu! * _No problem!*"_ Pikachu declared with a salute, a gesture which Pidgeotto mimicked.

"Pidgeotto. Caw! _*I don't see what winning leagues has to do with saving the world, but you can explain that later. Training and getting stronger to stop bad guys though, that I'm on board with. I promise I'll do the best job I can to see us through!*_ " Pidgeotto declared.

Ash nodded gratefully "Thank you. Alright, so here's the plan for right now. It's getting kinda late, so we'll all just set up camp and go to bed for now, I'll catch you up a bit more before we fall asleep Pidgeotto. And tomorrow, we're all going to do some hardcore training! We're going to try and teach Pikachu how to use iron tail again, and we're going to get you all into great fighting shape. After that, the first thing we need to do is go to Pewter City and meet up with Brock. Then he and I can have a Gym battle again"

Pidgeotto stood tall and threw up her wings proudly, letting out a battle cry "Caw! _*Yes! This time I shall claim victory!*_ "

Ash scratched his head and looked awkwardly at the excited bird "… Actually, Metapod and Pikachu already agreed to battle against him"

...

Pidgeotto looked downcast. Ash looked at her sympathetically.

"You can totally take the next gym battle though" He offered. Pidgeotto perked up slightly.

"...Coo _*… Okay, that works*_ " Pidgeotto sighed "Pidgeo _*I was hoping for a chance at redemption, but I guess a Butterfree might do better against rock Pokemon*_ "

"Okay, so, with that all set. Are you guys ready?!" Ash asked, pumping a fist into the air. All three of his Pokemon jumped up and cried out in agreement, which got Ash pumped up "Alright then! Let's go save the world!"

Misty approached Ash soon after, watching the cheering Pokemon in front of them with an approving smile, and then addressed their trainer "I'm guessing when we get to Cerulean City, you'll want to battle me again instead of my sisters, right?"

Ash gave Misty an eager grin, scratching the back of his head "If you want to?"

Misty nodded curtly, then narrowed her eyes at Ash "I'm not going to go easy on you, you know. If you're really serious about winning the league this time, you need to really prove you're up to the challenge. No pity badges this time"

Ash's grin turned a bit cheeky at her remark "Well, I beat you last time we battled. And I had our first battle in the bag last time before Team Rocket showed up, didn't I?"

Misty rolled her eyes playfully "Beginners luck, this time I'm giving you all I got! So watch out, Ash Ketchum!"

"I look forward to it" Ash said, extending a hand to the redhead. Misty glanced at it briefly then clasped her hand against his, her and Ash exchanging looks of determination and anticipation.

* * *

_***Viridian** **Forest,** **April** **3rd** **5pm***_

"Try again, Pikachu!"

At Ash's command Pikachu began charging towards the cherry blossom tree, charging up energy in his tail as he went. When he was a few feet away from it, Pikachu leapt up and began spinning around. His tail briefly let out a brilliant white glow… which had mostly dissipated by the time Pikachu struck it against the tree, leaving only a small mark.

Pikachu bounced back, glaring disappointedly at his tail and letting out a sigh.

"Pika. Pikachu, pika _*I know how to do it. I've used iron tail a million times. I just need to build up strength in this tail and keep at it until this younger body knows what it's doing*_ " Pikachu grumbled to himself.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it" Ash said, turning to face the purple butterfly scrunching up his face and staring very hard at the same tree Pikachu had been assaulting "Any luck yet, Butterfree?"

The butterfly didn't respond, simply grunting as he kept up his concentration. Metapod had evolved earlier in the afternoon, and after an hour of practising most of the moves Ash remembered it could use at this point in the old timeline (Tackle, string shot, sleep powder and stun spore), the hastily evolved Butterfree had decided it wanted to trade in tackle for a move he had apparently mastered at some point in Galar: Psybeam.

Ash approved of the idea, but wasn't quite sure how to help him through it due to his lack of experience at helping teach Pokemon psychic type moves. With Pikachu Ash at least remembered a few tricks on how to build up strength in Pikachu's tail back in Hoenn. Butterfree however seemed content to practise by himself while Ash focused his attentions on Pikachu and Pidgeotto, which Pikachu seemed to think was a case of the bug wanting to show off and impress Ash after being gone for so long.

So far Butterfree seemed to be making even less progress than Pikachu, who if the gradually extending length of the glow in his tail and the slight marks in the cherry blossom tree were any indication was at least clearly on the right track. But Ash was sure he'd be fine eventually.

Ash's attentions then shifted to Pidgeotto, who was sparring against Misty's Staryu. Pidgeotto had taken a while to readjust to her smaller body following her memory restoration and her earlier attempts at flying had been very clumsy and typically resulted in her bumping into things every ten seconds, usually Ash and Misty. Now she was starting to get the hang of it though, even successfully dodging several water guns.

"Try a gust attack, Pidgeotto!" Ash called out. Pidgeotto followed suit and blew a large gust of wind at the five-point starfish, but at Misty's command Staryu dodged at the last minute and blasted a water gun back at Pidgeotto "Dodge and use Quick attack!"

Pidgeotto ducked under the torrent of water at the last possible second and took off like a rocket towards Staryu. Though Staryu did lower the stream of water gun to make contact with Pidgeotto briefly, she powered the rest of the way through it and struck Staryu dead in its centre, sending it flying back.

"Staryu, strike back with tackle!" Misty quickly commanded. And at her command Staryu began spinning in the air and flung itself back in Pidgeotto's direction like a boomerang. Pidgeotto had no time to react before the attack struck, sending her to the ground.

"Pidgeotto, you okay?" Ash asked the downed bird, who shook her head quickly as she stood up.

 _"Pidgeotto?"_ Pidgeotto said dizzily, stumbling around as she looked at Ash "Pidgeo _*I'm_ _a_ _Seaking. What's it to you, talking purple cactus?*"_

Ash stared slackjawed at Pidgeotto after that remark. The bird's eyes soon cleared up and she let out a laugh "Pidg! _*Kidding, I'm kidding! I'm fine, Ash*"_

Ash let out an exaggerated sigh and shook his head, failing to hide his amused smirk "Don't scare me like that, seriously…"

"Let me guess, the "I'm delirious" joke again?" Misty called over to Ash, looking highly amused "That's the third time you've fallen for that today. You think you'd get the idea by now"

"Heh heh" Ash scratched his head nervously and stuck out his tongue. He watched Pidgeotto take flight again "Were you always this jokey?"

"Chu. Pika _*She used to be way worse, and her jokes were a lot meaner. Honestly, I think she's matured quite a lot since she left us*_ " Pikachu answered Ash before going in for another iron tail attempt on the tree. Pidgeotto chuckled.

Ash and Misty went back to sparring and the group continued with their routine for about ten minutes, when Misty suddenly looked slightly uneasy.

"Uh, hey Ash!" Misty called. Ash looked away from Pidgeotto to put his attention on her, and Staryu and Pidgeotto took the hint from her tone to halt their battle for a moment "I gotta go to the bathroom again. Mind if we call it off until I get back?"

"Oh. Uh, sure Misty, go ahead" Ash nodded. Pidgeotto hovered down beside her trainer as Misty returned Staryu to its pokeball.

"I'll be back in a bit" Misty said, taking off for the nearest row of trees. Ash waved goodbye to her briefly before turning his attention to his Pokemon.

* * *

 _'Of course I hate going to the bathroom in the middle of a forest, but what else can I do. It's not like I can just not drink anything for a few days'_ Misty complained to herself.

She stopped a few feet away from the path to the Eastern part of the forest and looked back towards Ash. He was apparently now having Pidgeotto practise sand attack, which Misty couldn't even remember if she knew how to do that in the old timeline. She liked Pidgeotto, but it had been years since Misty had seen her and she didn't really remember her as much as most of Ash's other Kanto and Johto Pokemon.

Misty smiled in the direction of her friend. Staryu may have just gotten the drop on Pidgeotto a few minutes ago, but actually for most of their second sparring session today, Pidgeotto had fought pretty evenly against her Pokemon and was even seeming to get an edge against Staryu just before she put the brakes on that battle. It was especially impressive she was already battling like that considering what a floundering mess Pidgeotto had been earlier this morning whenever she had tried to take flight.

And while Butterfree and Pikachu were far from their peaks, especially Pikachu compared to the last time she battled him with her Gyarados before time reset, they were still clearly capable of putting up a good fight.

She was confident she could give Ash a good run for his money when they eventually reached Cerulean City and had a Gym Battle, probably even beat him if she gave it her all (And she could do it effortlessly if she used a certain secret weapon waiting around at the Gym that she couldn't wait to show off to and surprise Ash with. But, probably not, that wouldn't be fair).

She did want him to win, of course. He had to, he needed that Gym badge. But Misty wasn't about to let him walk away with a cascade badge without making him buckle down and give it everything he had to earn it.

The most important duty of a Gym Leader was to test the skills of a trainer, as well as advise and steer them on the path of self-improvement, after all. And Ash needed more than ever to push himself and make sure he was prepared for all challenges that lie ahead.

Of course, the competitive side of Misty didn't really want to lose to Ash in general. But she was mature enough to swallow her pride and accept if he did wind up winning, which he probably would eventually even if Misty beat him the first time. Or the second, third, fourth and so on.

Misty was pulled from her thoughts as her bladder randomly decided to remind her why she was standing at the edge of their training field right now and she turned around to continue walking further into the forest. She came to a very abrupt halt two seconds later though, grimacing as she realized her face was suddenly inches away from the tip of a long sword.

Misty blinked, looking rightly panicked for a moment as she looked passed the tip of the blade to observe the person pointing it at her. A teenage boy, by the looks of it, about a head shorter than Misty and dressed in a suit of Samurai armour. It didn't take long for Misty's expression to shift from one of panic to just mild annoyance.

"Oh. It's you" Misty said dryly. Quickly realizing how suspicious that probably sounded in this situation, she hastily changed her expression to a more nervous look and, in the most surprised tone she could muster, added "I mean… hey, who are you?"

"Call me Samurai!" The boy declared, raising the sword above his head "I am the proud warrior who roams this forest, challenging all those who pass through my domain so that I may grow stronger!"

"Oh, really?" Misty said with little interest, carefully backing away from the Samurai to make sure she was out of range in case he suddenly swiped that sword of his down in a dramatic gesture "Good for you. Can you put the sword away for a minute, I need to go to the bathroom… granted, there isn't one out here, but you know what I mean"

The Samurai ignored her, his glare unwavering "Are you a Pokemon trainer?!"

"What's it to you?" Misty asked with a casual shrug. The Samurai's glare intensified very slightly.

"Did you not hear my introduction?!" Samurai yelled in a mildly annoyed tone "I am Samurai, and this is my territory! If you are a Pokemon trainer, then I wish to test my skills against you!"

Misty was very glad she had gotten out of his way, as the Samurai started swinging his sword around after that last declaration. She gave the boy a fake grin. She remembered him clearly, the first time she and Ash had travelled through Viridian Forest this Samurai guy had been prowling around and confronted her in a similar manner, asking if she was a trainer from Pallet Town. He'd had a battle with Ash shortly after, which somehow led to the three of them getting chased around by a swarm of Beedrill who also kidnapped Ash's Metapod.

From what little Misty could recall of him, this guy had also been an obnoxious rude jerk. And she was inclined to think he was much the same this time around given his loud and somewhat whiny manner of speaking.

"Let me guess, you use bug Pokemon, right?" Misty asked, vaguely recalling that this kid had used a Pinsir and probably a Metapod when he battled Ash before. The Samurai nodded in confirmation.

"I do indeed! As a denizen of Viridian Forest, I strive to become the greatest bug Pokemon trainer in all of Kanto!" Samurai explained. Misty gave him a quick "uh huh" and casually pointed over her shoulder towards the flower field.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't like bugs. My friend from Pallet loves a good battle though, you can ask him" Misty said. The Samurai silently considered her for a moment before sheaving his katana, his expression not changing.

"Very well. I shall challenge your friend. You may continue onwards, lazy maiden" The Samurai said. Misty's eye twitched at that description of her, and she rolled her eyes at the weirdo as he passed. Samurai took a few steps past Misty, then stopped and turned his head to look back at her "Afraid of bug Pokemon? How pathetic. Any trainer who would turn down my challenge for such a reason is not worth battling!"

Misty grit her teeth, growling at the Samurai. She had a comeback, but held her breath and quietly walked away. She really hoped Ash knocked some sense into this dope.

* * *

"Pika!" Pikachu declared as his tail once again hit the side of the Cherry blossom tree to little effect. His tail had almost remained fully glowing at least, but there wasn't any real power behind the attack so it had proved ineffective. It was frustrating the yellow mouse.

"Freeeee _*Grrrrrrrr…*"_

Butterfree's strained groan caught Pikachu's attention. He looked at the purple butterfly with some concern.

"Chu. pikapika, chu _*I think maybe you should stick with the moves you've got for now, Butterfree. I need to relearn iron tail because that's all I can do that'd be useful against Brock's Pokemon if we can't use the sprinkler trick again, but if you ask me I think you just need to get a lot stronger before you can use psybeam again*_ " Pikachu gave his two cents.

Butterfree relaxed his face for a second to address him.

"Free _*Oh, trust me, I know what I'm doing*_ " Was all Butterfree said before going back to frowning excessively at the tree. Pikachu shrugged as Ash and Pidgeotto took a break from the latter's training to watch Butterfree with him.

"Pidgeo _*Well, you can't fault his spirit, at least*"_ Pidgeotto commented. Ash scratched his head.

"Psyduck usually got a lot better at using psychic attacks whenever it got a headache. Think it's the same thing for other Pokemon, or it's just a Psyduck thing?" Ash pondered.

"Pi. Pikachu _*Probably the latter. I've never seen a psychic type look like it's in pain when using their attacks, but it does look like it takes a lot of concentration*_ " Pikachu replied, wincing slightly as Butterfree closed his eyes and looked like he might burst a blood vessel any minute "Pika. Pi pika _*But really, learning a new move is hard, even if you know what you're doing. And sometimes moves just come naturally to us Pokemon as we're pushing ourselves to get stronger. I'm sure Butterfree just needs to keep up his training for a while. It'll be a long time before he's ready to-*_ "

As Pikachu was speaking that last sentence, Butterfree's eyes shot open and glowed a glorious purple colour. Two beams of light shot out of them and formed into one larger beam that struck the side of the cherry blossom tree head on.

Pikachu, Ash and Pidgeotto all leapt back in shock, watching in silent awe as the psychic beam bore into the tree. When it eventually subsided, there was a visible hole in the tree, and a closer look showed Butterfree's attack had broken right through to the other side of the tree.

Pikachu's jaw dropped as Butterfree cheerfully shot up and began happily flying in circles around his friends.

"Free! Free! Free! _*Success! Success! Success!*"_ Butterfree chanted cheerfully.

Ash whistled impressively, and Pidgeotto gave an approving nod.

"Otto _*You also can't fault his results*"_ Pidgeotto said. She turned to Pikachu, who was now staring up at the giddy bug circling overhead with a look of utter embarrassment. It soon turned to fiery resolve as Pikachu crouched down, built up energy in his tail and struck the tree once again, managing to leave at least a small mark on the bark this time.

"Pika! _*I'm going to master this stupid attack if it kills me!*"_ Pikachu roared, running back to try again. Pidgeotto shook her head and cooed at him.

Ash just smiled up at Butterfree.

"Great work, buddy! That'll definitely come in handy against Brock" Ash said in an approving tone. After a whole minute of his victory lap, Butterfree swooped down and landed on Ash's shoulder to begin nuzzling his cheek. Ash laughed at this, and then asked "So, what moves can you use altogether now?"

Butterfree quickly stopped nuzzling Ash and flew away from him. He launched another psybeam, a bit smaller this time, and then after making sure the wind wasn't blowing in the direction of any of his friends he released a sleep powder. Ash and Pidgeotto watched the small glowing specks of blue powder float away slowly as Pikachu continued smacking the cherry blossom tree with his tail.

When the sleep powder had mostly faded away, Butterfree released a stun spore. And when that faded away, he started making spitting motions, only for nothing to come out. He blinked for a moment at this, before letting out an annoyed groan.

"Free... _*Woops… I forgot string shot instead of tackle*_ " Butterfree said impishly. Ash gave him a sympathetic look and shrugged.

"Oh well, that's fine" Ash said in an optimistic tone "That's probably better anyway. If you lost tackle, you wouldn't have any physical moves, right?"

"Free. Free _*I prefer fighting at a distance, honestly. I'm kind of a lightweight. And I liked string shot*_ " Butterfree said with a pouty face.

Ash scratched his head, motioning for Butterfree to rest on his shoulder again so he could give him a comforting head pat.

"We'll work with it, don't worry. I won't have you go tackling Brock's Geodude or Onix anyway if you don't want to, I guess that'd probably hurt" Ash offered. Butterfree seemed to chirp in approval. Ash smiled at him before his expression turned more thoughtful "Hey, is it possible for any of you guys to use more than four moves at a time? I'm sure I've seen Pokemon do that before…"

"Caw _*I've heard it's possible*_ " Pidgeotto answered with a half-hearted shrug "Caw, caw. Pidgeo _*I think it would be pretty rare though, a Pokemon would probably need to be really strong and experienced to pull off something like that. And we're all not very impressive at the moment in either regard, at least physically*_ "

"Hmm…" Ash rubbed his chin, considering that information. Maybe he'd have to ask Drake how his Dragonite pulled off knowing multiple extra moves whenever they revisited the Orange Islands. If they ever figured out how to do something like that, it would probably come in handy.

"Are you the Pokemon Trainer the lazy maiden mentioned!?"

Ash jumped, turning around to face a teenage boy slightly shorter than him dressed up in samurai armour. He blinked nervously as he registered the katana the guy was pointing towards his chest.

"Uhh… what?"

"The entomophobic maiden with red hair informed me that I would find a Pokemon trainer in this field who would be eager to battle. Are you the one she was referring to?!" The Samurai boy clarified.

 _'Ento-what?'_ Ash pondered that word choice. He figured it probably had something to do with Misty given the red haired part of the description, so he just shook his head and said "Uh… yeah, she probably meant me"

In response to that confirmation, the Samurai sheathed his sword once more and pulled out a Pokeball, holding it towards Ash's face.

"Call me Samurai! I am training to become the strongest bug-Pokemon trainer in Kanto, and to that end I challenge all those who pass through this forest! Battle me, and prove you are worthy!" The Samurai declared. Ash rose an eyebrow at the boy's loud and dramatic tone of voice, but it didn't take him long to get excited over the prospect of a Pokemon battle.

"Alright, you're on!" Ash said eagerly, punching the air. The Samurai nodded at that, turned around and took a dozen or so large steps forward before turning around again to face Ash, a sizeable distance now between them. He bowed towards Ash, but still maintained a stern glare.

"Excellent! I warn you however, this will not be an easy battle. Brace yourself for a crushing defeat if you be not worthy!" The Samurai declared in an arrogant tone that reminded Ash a little of Gary.

Ash stared at the oddly dressed teen for a moment, realizing that he recognized him. This same Samurai had challenged him to a battle the first time he and Misty were wandering through Viridian Forest. Ash couldn't really remember much about him though, other than that the kid had been really obnoxious and condescending, and Ash had found him very annoying.

Ash shook his head, not really seeing the need to dwell on those thoughts. A good Pokemon battle against someone other than Misty would be just the practise he needed before battling Brock again, so he'd just focus his attention on the battle that was about to happen.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, by the way. You want to go first, or should I?" Ash asked. The Samurai threw his pokeball forward and released the Pokemon inside of it as his response. It was a Pinsir, one that looked a lot more confident and threatening than Goh's Pinsir.

"This will be a two-on-two battle! Choose your first Pokemon wisely, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, for my Pinsir is a most formidable opponent and shall likely defeat it with a single attack!" The Samurai said boastfully. Ash gave him a cocky grin, eager to prove him wrong.

Pidgeotto trotted forward, standing tall and looking ready for action. But Ash could see that she was also panting a bit, so he shook his head at the bird.

"Sorry Pidgeotto, but you've been sparring with Staryu for a while now. You could probably use a rest before you do a proper battle" Ash said. Pidgeotto drooped, looking disappointed, but she seemed to get over it quickly.

"Pidgeotto _*Right. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time, I guess. Fair enough*_ " Pidgeotto admitted.

Ash suddenly recalled that Pidgeotto was rather easily defeated the last time around because Ash had sent her into battle while she was exhausted. He winced, realizing that the Samurai's boast of beating his Pokemon in one hit was hardly an exaggeration.

"You'll get a chance to battle sometime soon, I promise" Ash told Pidgeotto, and then turned to Butterfree, who was still perched on his shoulder. They both grinned at each other.

"Free _*Say no more*_ " Butterfree said, taking off from Ash's shoulder and hovering before Pinsir, floating around and performing some kind of dance Ash assumed was meant to be threatening.

"Pikachu _*I'm guessing I'll be your second then?*"_ Pikachu asked, running up to stand by Ash's side. Ash smiled down at him and nodded. Pikachu grinned, but still seemed to look slightly disappointed "Pika pika _*Course if Butterfree wins against Pinsir, I'm probably not even going to get to battle*"_

Ash gave Pikachu an odd look, but paid that assessment little mind as he faced Samurai again, who was eyeing Butterfree with an unimpressed look.

"Hmm… your Butterfree looks unremarkable and mediocre" The Samurai said bluntly. Butterfree faltered, almost dropping to the floor.

"You don't know what you're talking about! My Butterfree could bring down a whole swarm of Beedrill if he wanted!" Ash fired back. No need to mention that he could only do that by using sleep powder on the Beedrill and probably couldn't physically beat them all at once otherwise.

"Prove it to me by defeating my Pinsir, then" Samurai said, raising his right arm and pointing at Butterfree "Pinsir, use vicegrip!"

Pinsir lunged at Butterfree, aiming it's pincers at the purple butterfly.

"Fly up and use sleep powder!"

Butterfree avoided the vice grip and hovered up well out of the beetle's range, opening his wings wide and releasing a cloud of blue powder.

"Dodge it!" The Samurai commanded, and Pinsir rolled out of the way of the sleep powder "Now use rock tomb!"

Ash gaped at Pinsir as it raised its arms and several large rocks suddenly rose up from the ground to float around it.

 _'Well I'm sure that didn't happen last time'_ Ash thought, feeling his heart sink slightly as Pinsir locked its sights on Butterfree.

"Butterfree, avoid those rocks and try to use stun spore!" Ash called out. Pinsir began launching the rocks one after the other at Butterfree, who managed to swoop past most of them as it dived downwards, but then the last rock managed to strike his left wing and sent the bug spinning frantically as he tried to correct his flight. The pain in his wing was too much for him in the moment though, and Butterfree crashed into the ground near where the Samurai was standing.

"Now use brick break!" Samurai ordered. Ash's eyes widened in concern as Pinsir's right arm began to glow white. Pinsir charged at Butterfree, who was struggling to stand up again and just looked at the incoming beetle with concern.

"Psybeam!" Ash yelled quickly.

Butterfree's eyes began to glow, and right as Pinsir was about to deliver a crushing blow to his head the butterfly fired a large purple beam of psychic energy into Pinsir's chest, right below its mouth. Pinsir tried to hold its ground for a few seconds, but was quickly sent flying back a good distance as Butterfree upped the concentration of the blast. Pinsir hit the ground hard, but managed to roll backwards onto its feat, albeit unsteadily.

"Butterfree, can you get up?" Ash asked. Butterfree rose to his feet and tried flapping his wings. Though the wing that had been struck by rock tomb clearly still caused him some pain, Butterfree did manage to get airborne again, too determined to be grounded by a single attack.

Ash smiled uneasily at Butterfree, glad he was mostly alright but worried about him overexerting himself. Rock type attacks were super effective against flying type Pokemon, which Butterfree partially was. They couldn't afford another hit like that, even if it didn't cause a knockout it probably would keep Butterfree from flying any further if it hit the same wing.

The Samurai stared contemplatively at Butterfree hovering in front of him for a moment.

"I take back what I said about your Butterfree being mediocre. An unskilled Butterfree could not have learned to use such a powerful attack" He admitted. He then glanced at Pinsir, who was clutching his stomach with one hand but was still clearly ready to go "But that does not mean you can win. Pinsir, use rock tomb again!"

Pinsir raised its hands again, and Ash clenched his teeth, thinking fast on a counter strategy. He knew Butterfree would probably have trouble dodging with a wing injury, so he made to order another psybeam, hoping to strike Pinsir first and cancel out the rock tomb.

But then Ash stopped himself as he quickly registered an odd look on Pinsir's face. On closer inspection, the brown bug's eyes appeared cloudy, and there seemed to be several odd shapes that looked kind of like birds hovering around Pinsir's head. Ash blinked as Pinsir suddenly slapped itself in the face, stumbling around afterwards. The Samurai cried out in a panic.

Ash grinned, recognizing that Pinsir was in a state of confusion.

"Butterfree, use stun spore!" Ash ordered. Butterfree flew forward, flinching slightly at first but quickly brushing off the pain in his left wing as he began releasing a cloud of yellow spores, flying over Pinsir and shrouding the larger bug in them. Pinsir's vision briefly became clearer, only for its eyes to widen as sparks began dancing around its body. Pinsir clenched up, grunting weakly as the paralysis took hold.

"Now use Psybeam again!" Ash called quickly, and Butterfree twirled around to blast Pinsir in the back with another beam of psychic energy. Pinsir was knocked flat on its face. The bug tried to get up, but between the confusion and the paralyzing effects of Butterfree's stun spore it could only flinch and squirm slightly on the ground.

The Samurai stared at Pinsir in disbelief as Pikachu and Pidgeotto started cheering.

"You might want to call Pinsir back now; I don't think it's going to be able to battle much further!" Ash called out, not wanting to cause Pinsir any unnecessary injury.

Samurai looked like he wanted to protest that idea, but bit his lip at the last second and relented, returning Pinsir to its pokeball. As Butterfree cheered on his victory, Samurai gripped Pinsir's Pokeball hard, looking both frustrated and impressed.

"I misjudged you, trainer from Pallet. Your Butterfree is indeed impressive" Samurai said, bowing curtly at Ash, who just scratched his head and smiled in response.

Truth be told Ash wasn't sure he liked winning that way. Confusing a Pokemon was a valid tactic, sure, and Ash knew a lot of psychic type attacks could cause it as a side effect, but it had slipped his mind that psybeam had such an effect.

It wasn't uncommon for Ash to win a battle with luck, of course, so he couldn't complain, but it still felt random. And silently Ash wondered how the battle would have gone if Pinsir hadn't gotten confused and how he might have won otherwise. He put the thought to the back of his head as his opponent called out his second Pokemon.

"Metapod, I choose you!"

A large Metapod with a shell that seemed to shine appeared on the ground beneath Butterfree. Ash stared carefully at it, trying to remember back to how his battle with the Samurai had gone in the previous timeline when this Metapod was called out.

A grin slowly appeared on Ash's face.

"Butterfree, use sleep powder!" Ash called. Butterfree released a cloud of sparkling blue powder over Metapod, who quickly nodded off. Samurai blinked at the Pokemon, his eye twitching slightly as Pikachu and Pidgeotto broke out in a renewed chorus of cheers.

"… Very clever, but don't think you have won!" Samurai yelled defiantly, raising a fist into the air "A Pokemon being put to sleep does not officially count as a knockout! Metapod can still fight once it has woken up"

"Uh huh" Ash nodded slowly, trying not to laugh as he asked "And assuming Butterfree doesn't actually knock it out before that… how many moves does your Metapod know?"

"Only harden!" Samurai answered simply. This time Ash couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.

"And does harden do any damage to other Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Of course no-" Samurai froze up before finishing that sentence, and for a long time afterwards he stood silent and motionless, his expression blank. Just as Ash was starting to feel a bit concerned for the guy, the Samurai hung his head and let out a loud, disappointed sigh, holding up Metapod's Pokeball "Metapod, return"

Ash watched as the sleeping Metapod's body was reduced to a flash of red light and absorbed into its Pokeball. The Samurai continued staring at the ground for about ten seconds afterwards before shaking his head, looking at Ash with a surprisingly satisfied smile on his face.

Butterfree flew over to Ash and dropped into his arms, the trainer giving him a big congratulatory hug and patting his head "Great job, Butterfree" He said. Butterfree chirped happily at the compliment.

Ash looked up from the cheerful bug in his arms to see Samurai approaching him, offering Ash his hand.

"You battled well. I suppose it was foolish of me, attempting to battle with a Metapod that only knew a single non-damaging attack. I shall expand its move pool and train harder to reach my goals. Thank you for being a worthy opponent" The Samurai said, with a level of respect in his tone that Ash was sure he had never directed towards him in the old timeline.

Ash had a satisfied grin on his face as he carefully held Butterfree in one hand and clasped the other against Samurai's.

"And thank you for a good battle. Let's do this again sometime" Ash offered, earning an eager nod from the Samurai 'Huh, I guess this guy's not so much of a jerk after all… he's loud, but not too bad'

"That was perhaps the greatest battle I've had since the blond haired trainer from Hoenn with the Lycanroc defeated me last week. You two have inspired me to train harder, so that I may face you both again as equals" Samurai said.

Ash blinked at him. A blond haired trainer with a Lycanroc? Instinctively he thought of Gladion, but he was from Alola, not Hoenn, so it had to be someone else, right?

"A Lycanroc? You sure that guy wasn't from Alola?" Ash asked, just to be sure.

Samurai shook his head.

"I am most certain he said he was from Hoenn. He was a trainer with dark blond hair and blue eyes, and he wore a green shirt. He appeared to be a veteran, as he mentioned competing in the Hoenn League before, so I assume he's well travelled. Perhaps you two shall meet soon, I'm sure you would have a most spectacular battle" Samurai explained.

Ah, definitely had nothing to do with Gladion then. But now Ash was curious about who this trainer actually was. And yeah, a spectacular battle with a veteran trainer DID sound exciting to Ash… he'd probably lose easily if he didn't have a chance to regather more of his old Pokemon and train them up a lot first, but still.

"Hopefully I do get the chance to meet him then. And maybe see you too somewhere" Ash said. Samurai nodded at him with a smile.

"I will look forward to a rematch once I have reached my full potential. I will be waiting here in this forest, as I always do" Said Samurai. Ash looked at him oddly.

"Do you ever leave this forest?" Ash asked. Samurai shook his head, and Ash frowned slightly "Okay, I get this is your home and you must like it here. There are a lot of bug types and all. But you can't really reach your full potential wandering around in a single forest by yourself all the time. You get better as a trainer by going out and seeing the world with your Pokemon and meeting new people and Pokemon along the way. Or at least, that's what I usually do. Even when I'm not travelling a lot, I usually have a bunch of friends around me. I think it would do you and your Pokemon pretty good, too… if you want to travel, anyway"

The Samurai meditated on Ash's words for a long time before giving Ash a courteous nod "Your wisdom is appreciated. For now I shall return home, but I will consider your suggestion. Perhaps it is time I considered expanding my horizons to seek different methods of training. I bid you farewell and safe travels, Ash Ketchum from Pallet"

Ash waved goodbye to the Samurai as he departed, putting Butterfree gently down on the ground and checking his left wing over.

"Free _*I'm fine, really*"_ Butterfree said, flapping his wing around. Then he winced quietly "...Free. Free _*… Okay, it's a tiny bit sore, but I've been hit worse. It'll be perfect in an hour or two*_ "

"Well alright, but still take a rest for now. You've earned it after that battle" Ash said proudly. Butterfree smiled as Pikachu moved forward to pat his right wing while Pidgeotto pat his head.

"Caw. Pidgeotto _*You really are impressive, my friend. Battle like that against Brock and we'll have that first Gym Badge in the bag. I'll do my part to live up to your example in Cerulean*_ " Said Pidgeotto.

"Chu. Pika _*I really need to master iron tail again already. Can't let you go outshining me like that too much*_ " Pikachu said with a cocky grin. Butterfree laughed.

"Free! _*Oh don't count on it, I'm the star of the show now!*_ " Butterfree bragged. Pikachu's grin turned playfully competitive.

"Pi! Pikachu _*Oh, it is ON now! Next sparring session is you and me pal, I'll thundershock you right back to the regular timeline*_ " Pikachu shot back. Butterfree smiled eagerly at that.

"Free _*Oh goody, I can let my kids know where I've been if you do that*_ " Butterfree said. All parties present blinked slowly at him, not sure if he was joking or he actually meant that sincerely. It could be either way with Butterfree, honestly. Eventually though they all started laughing.

Misty returned to the training site shortly after, looking over the Pokemon waving up at her with a smile before addressing Ash "So, I take it you battled that Samurai guy again"

"Yep. I won too" Ash said, patting his chest proudly. Misty let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad" Misty said with an approving nod "That guy was a real brat"

"I dunno, he didn't seem too jerky to me" Ash shrugged.

"Really?" Misty asked, sounding surprised "He was pretty rude to me? Huh… so, how much longer until you guys want to go challenge Brock?"

"Give it a day or two, I think. Pikachu still needs to learn iron tail, but other than that" Ash said, proudly looking over his Pokemon, who all smiled at him "I think we're good to go"

Ash smiled back at his Pokemon. A lot of tough challenges surely lie ahead of them, but seeing how well Butterfree's efforts to learn psybeam had paid off, and how well he had battled, Ash was more confident than ever they were going to pull through.

* * *

_***Pewter** **City,** **roughly** **that** **same** **moment***_

Behind Pewter City's Pokemon Centre, there was a small training field similar to what you might find in a gym. It was most often used by trainers passing through the city, or local trainers getting ready to battle the local gym leader.

At this moment, it was being used by only two trainers. One was dressed in a green shirt and dark blue jeans, and had a mess of sandy blond hair. This trainer had a calm expression on his face, and his chosen Pokemon was a bipedal canine known as a midnight form Lycanroc. Normally this variation of Lycanroc had mostly red fur, but this one was what was known as a "Shiny" Pokemon, so sported a blue coloration instead.

The blond trainer's opponent was a girl with blue hair in a bowl cut and green eyes, dressed in a pink shirt and blue skirt. She looked far less calm, mainly because her partner Pokemon, a Machoke, was looking very battered and panting heavily, whereas her opponent's Pokemon had taken all of two hits so far and those hardly seemed to have slowed it down.

The girl grit her teeth, realizing she was backed into a corner. But not quite prepared to surrender just yet, she threw her hand forward and called for her Machoke to use karate chop. The opposing trainer watched Machoke sprint towards his Lycanroc with a calculated expression.

"Use counter" The blond trainer ordered when Machoke was four steps away from reaching Lycanroc, who quickly held back its right arm. A red aura surrounded Lycanroc's body as it threw its fist forward and struck Machoke straight in the chest at the precise moment its own karate chop made contact with Lycanroc. Machoke gagged, eyes bulging for a moment before it was sent flying back, right over its trainer and into the back wall of the Pokemon Center.

"Machoke!" The blue haired girl cried, rushing to check on her downed Pokemon, whose eyes had become spirals.

The blond haired trainer casually strolled forward, petting his Lycanroc and congratulating it for the win before returning the Pokemon to its pokeball, then took a closer look at the defeated Machoke.

"Is it alright?" He asked. The blue haired girl looked at him, and though clearly disappointed she still smiled back at her opponent.

"I think he'll be fine, I'll just have Nurse Joy treat him in a minute" She replied. The blond boy gave her an approving nod, quickly thanking her for a good battle before he began walking towards the door leading back into the Pokemon centre, intending to make his exit and set off for the next city. Before he was through the frame however, the girl called out to him "Hey, wait! I didn't get your name"

The blond haired teen stopped and looked at her for a moment. He scratched his chin and looked away from her.

"Oh, sorry. It's Matt"


	6. Rocking the Pewter City Gym

_***Valor Lakefront,** **April 3rd. 7.01pm Sinnoh** **Time***_

Angie leaned against the railings of the ship, waving a final goodbye to her father as the ship began to leave port. She stared after him for a long while, heaving a heavy sigh as the man eventually became a black dot on the edge of the pier from her perspective before disappearing into the distance.

"Shinx"

Angie blinked as she felt something rub up against her leg, looking down to see her Shinx staring back at her with a warm smile. Her attention then turned to the Buneary sitting on the railings beside her, as the fluffy rabbit extended her right ear to stroke Angie's face.

Angie chuckled, patting Buneary on the head appreciatively before leaning down to do the same with her starter.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine"

Angie had been rather apprehensive for most of the drive to the small settlement near Lake Valor, her previous anxieties over leaving home flaring up again. But really, now that she was on the ship, most of that worry was swiftly fading away.

Sure, it was still bittersweet to see her father off, but the hard part of leaving home was well behind her now, and Angie had a visit to her favourite aunt and a grand adventure with friends both old and new to look forward to.

It was a pretty good evening, and she wasn't going to waste her time on this cruise ship moping around.

Blushing slightly at a sudden loud rumble from her stomach, Angie grinned eagerly at her Pokemon charges and asked "Want to get some supper, then? Maybe if we're quick we can get in some quick training before bed"

"Shinx!" "Buneary!"

"I'll take that as a yes" Angie said, smirking in amusement as Shinx and Buneary started bouncing around wildly. So without another word she led them to a staircase that would take them to the lower deck where the ships lunch hall and cabins could be found. Shinx walked evenly by Angie's side, as he usually did, while Buneary happily skipped around in front of her.

Angie had to smile at the little rabbits unbridled enthusiasm. She was worried that after Buneary's experience with the poachers that the Pokemon would take her time to fully open up to her and would continue to be at least somewhat timid for a while, but actually in the past two days Buneary had been with Angie she'd very quickly gotten comfortable, and her personality was usually quite bubbly.

She still wasn't sold on Angie's father or most other humans, and she wouldn't let Angie catch her in a pokeball just yet, but she wasn't scared or aggressive around others so long as Angie was around, so she was still making great progress. Buneary had even shown some mild interest in battling while watching Shinx train early in the morning before they'd all left Veilstone City, revealing that she could use ice beam.

Angie was pretty impressed, and eager to see what else Buneary could do. Though of course, there was no rush, for now Angie was satisfied with just seeing Buneary bouncing around so happily.

Though then again, perhaps she could have done with being just a little less bouncy for that moment, considering she didn't fully seem to pay attention to where she was going and as such ended up jumping headlong into another passenger carrying a stack of small boxes of some kind, causing him to stumble and fall backwards onto the floor with a loud "Wooooah!"

Angie and Shinx froze mid step and gaped at the fallen passenger in shock. Clenching her teeth, Angie rushed forward to check on the man, while Buneary backed off and cover her mouth with both her front paws, looking mighty embarrassed as she half covered her eyes with her ears.

"Sorry about that, buddy! Buneary got a little too excited there" Angie said as she grabbed the man's hand and helped him back up.

"Ha ha, oh, um, it's quite alright! Hahaha!" The man said, laughing for an unnaturally long time afterwards in a manner Angie found oddly off-putting.

Taking a closer look at him, the guy seemed to have a mess of blond hair with an odd sheen to it, a moustache that was almost certainly fake the closer Angie looked at it, and he was dressed in a blue shirt that she was sure was standard wear for Alolan tourists given the palm tree pattern, and beige shorts.

Angie scratched her head over the odd laughter and leaned down to pick up one of the boxes he'd dropped. It was flat, yellow and the top of it was covered by a green sheet held in place by a red ribbon tied around the box from four sides. Angie recognized it as a kind of lunchbox full of assorted snacks being sold near the port the ship had left from.

"Boy, that's one spry Buneary you've got there. Cute little thing though" The blond man said, giving Buneary a wide smile. Buneary shifted her feet and scratched her right ear, which made him chuckle endearingly. Turning to face Angie the man noticed the lunchbox in her hand, a mildly panicked look quickly spread over his face and he frantically started picking up scattered lunchboxes.

Angie leaned down to pick up two more near her feet to help out, but there was no need to pick up any more because the blond passenger had already managed to pick up the rest, stuffing half of them into a white bag.

"You need any more help with those, pal?" Angie asked, noticing that the man was carrying half a dozen of the lunchboxes outside of the bag. The blond man just chuckled nervously and waved the hand carrying the bag, stumbling very slightly as he almost dropped it as a result.

"No, no, I'll be fine... although if you want, it would be very helpful if you and your Pokemon would take those three lunchboxes off my hand" He said cheerily.

Angie, Shinx and Buneary glanced at the three lunchboxes the tomboy was holding. The latter two sniffed the air to try and get an idea what was in the boxes, smiling and licking their lips afterwards, while Angie just raised an eyebrow uncertainly at the blond guy.

"You sure you want to give them to us just like that?" Angie asked, and the man nodded vigorously at her.

"It's fine, it's fine! I was actually looking for people to give them away to anyway, I've got more than I know what to do with" The man said, looking down at the boxes in his hand with a slight pout. His head snapped back up, and he gave Angie a strained, awkward smile while scratching the back of his head with the bag hand "It's not like I ordered too many, and I was panicking because I couldn't find my wallet and almost missed the boat, or anything crazy like that!"

Angie sweatdropped at the hapless passenger, but shook off the awkwardness and gave him a polite smile "Well alright then, best of luck with that. Thanks for the grub!"

"You're very welcome!" The man said, and after another round of awkwardly prolonged laughter he very suddenly walked off "Well, I'm going to go look for the staff and some of the assistant Pokemon to give away more of these things. Have a pleasant evening, young lady, see you again!"

The blond guy left very quickly before Angie could say anything else. Angie and her two Pokemon cocked their heads uncertainly as he disappeared around a corner of the corridor.

"He was... a bit odd..." Angie said dryly. She glanced down at the lunchboxes in her hand, and shrugged casually "But hey, free snacks. That's neat. Now let's go chow down"

Shinx and Buneary cheered in agreement, and so Angie quietly continued on her way to the lunch hall, paying the eccentric probable tourist no further mind.

* * *

**(30 minutes later, after many lunchboxes had been distributed)**

The man Angie had bumped into entered his cabin, locking the door behind him before pulling off the blond wig and false moustache he had been wearing. His actual appearance, that no one on board the ship would bear witness to during this cruise, was that of a clean-shaven man with short black hair.

He made for the small cupboard near his bed and pulled open a drawer, revealing a large number of folders which he sifted through before coming to the one he needed, opening it up to reveal a large number of papers full of information on a certain individual that was of interest to him.

Among those documents was also a cut-out of the front page of a Newspaper from several years ago with the headline "Mad Scientist stages coup! Knothole conquered by Dr Robotnik!" that featured a picture of that person of interest.

A tall, rotund, strangely egg shaped man with a cartoonishly large, bushy moustache beneath a big pink nose, who in the picture had both hands raised as he laughed maniacally.

The black haired man sat down on his bed, taking in the appearance of the villainous scientist. He still remembered where he was the day before this newspaper was printed. It was a diner in Sandgem town, where he had been having dinner with one of his favourite informants. He had just apprehended a dangerous Pokemon Hunter he had spent the better part of two months tracking, one who had connections with a world famous master criminal known by the moniker of Hunter J.

The man with black hair and his informant were discussing potential leads that might help with locating and arresting more of J's high ranked goons, and hopefully eventually lead them to J herself (The trail went cold, sadly), when a sudden news broadcast had interrupted the Pokebase game the other patrons of the diner had been absorbed in on the diner's TV.

The entire diner had fallen silent at the announcement, made not by a TV Anchor man or any kind of reporter, but by a famous scientist from the Johto region named Dr Ivo Robotnik. Robotnik declared to the world that he had just conquered the City of Mobotropolis, the capital of the Mobian region of Knothole, and the seat of the House of Acorn.

Robotnik showed footage of scores of robots attacking the great city, destroying buildings and taking many hundreds of Mobian citizens prisoner, and further footage showing that his metal menaces were quickly spreading out and doing the same thing to every settlement in the region.

The man had pushed past the crowd of people to get a better look at the TV screen as Robotnik was saying that he would no longer be known by his family name. But that the whole world, which would soon bow down to him as its sole ruler, would from now on know him as Dr Eggman.

He would begin by spreading his reign of terror to the Johto and Kanto regions, before branching out to conquer the rest of the planet, and that anyone who dared to oppose him would be completely annihilated.

An entire minute of maniachal laughter followed the Doctor's bombastic speech before the transmission ended, and the entire diner had broken out in a panic, their screams and shocked exclamations deafening.

The man with black hair then dressed in a brown coat had stormed out of the diner quickly after, making a call to Headquarters as soon as he was out the door, all thoughts of Pokemon hunters and friendly business discussions with old acquaintances forgotten for the time being as throughout the world, G-men, Champions, politicians and others scrambled to form a counterattack against the tyrant that threatened the universal peace and prosperity that the people of the Pokemon world had worked long and hard to establish.

For the next three months, there had been an all out war against Eggman's robot armies across Northern Johto. Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, G-men, Officer Jenny's, trainers and the Kanto-Johto armed forces fought together with rebel bands of Mobians dubbing themselves the Freedom Fighters to keep the neighbouring regions from falling into the same dystopian dictatorship that Knothole was forced to suffer through. Even the legendary Gligarman had come out of retirement to aid the cause.

Lives were lost, but through the combined efforts of many regions worth of brave heroes fighting together Dr Eggman's rule failed to expand very far, and in the end he had been defeated. Not by the G-men, not by the army, but by one particular freedom fighter. A blue marvel who would come to be known throughout the world in the next six years as one of its greatest heroes.

With the help of a small group of his friends, ten year old Sonic the Hedgehog, a Mobian mysteriously born with incredible chaos-based powers that granted him speed beyond the capability of any known human or Pokemon, had managed to gather seven magical jewels called the chaos emeralds, and with their power he transformed into an unstoppable force of nature, crushing the doctor's greatest robots, liberating the city of Mobotropolis (Briefly renamed Robotropolis during those three months) and the surrounding towns and cities of Knothole soon after, and defeating Dr Eggman himself.

A smirk appeared on the black haired man's face in the present as he remembered watching the footage of Eggman being dragged away in handcuffs and a muzzle, thrown into a cell to rot while awaiting trial for his crimes against the people of Knothole and the world.

It hadn't been an ideal victory, sadly. Aside from all of the civilian and trainer casualties, no one knew what happened to the good King Nigel, who was never seen again after the initial coup.

Rumours had ranged from him being killed by Eggman during the initial assault to the Doctor throwing him through an Ultra Wormhole right before launching the attack, sending the king to parts unknown, perhaps even to another dimension. To this day no one knew for sure.

In King Nigel's absence, his eldest son prince Elias took the throne, being officially crowned the new king of Knothole a year later, while the king's younger daughter Sally had continued to lead the Freedom Fighters as a special peace keeping force for the small region.

It was a wise decision to not disband that group, because to the horror of many Dr Eggman had somehow managed to escape from prison shortly afterwards. And so for the next six years, Sonic the hedgehog and his friends, along with the G-men, had fought a continuous series of battles to bring down the Supervillain.

Eggman never managed to fully take over Knothole, or any other region again after all of this, but he had caused quite a bit of havoc. Awakening an ancient deity from a giant emerald that had caused chaos throughout Goldenrod city, building a giant spaceship called the death egg with the power to devastate the environment of entire regions and almost succeeding at turning Unova into a wasteland, taking control of a space station that held a similarly deadly super weapon that the Doctor had used to blow up half of the moon (It had been restored since through a wish from Sonic to the Jirachi that lived in the Decolora Islands), and there were so many more incidents of similar magnitude.

Aside from perhaps the dreaded Lord Zed and Rita Repulsa who were known to mostly terrorize the Hoenn region from time to time, the world these past few years had not known a greater threat than Dr Eggman and his Badnik army. The likes of Team Rocket, Cipher and Hunter J, for all their nefarious deeds, could not hope to compare to the sheer danger this man posed to the lives of everyone on this planet.

And yet, most people these days seemed to regard him as no more an immediate threat to their lives as either of those villains. Sonic the hedgehog and his friends had beaten Eggman so many times now that everyone seemed to take it for granted that he would always be there to foil any further evil schemes the doctor might have, and that the dreaded supervillain was hardly anything to worry about anymore.

The black haired man now examining the reports on the bad doctor was not one such person. To him and his fellow G-men, Dr Eggman was a threat they could never afford to take lightly, and it was their duty to apprehend all evil doers like him to keep the good people and anthropomorphic animals of the Pokemon world safe from harm.

Which is why when Lance had sent out a call to ask that he help with an investigation into reports Eggman might be operating in the Kanto region after months of being off their radar, Agent Looker had readily accepted the job.

In about two days now, Looker would arrive in Vermilion City and meet up with Sonic the hedgehog's sidekick Miles Prower. And the G-men's great detective swore to himself that together, they would bring Dr Eggman to justice once and for all.

* * *

_***Pewter** **City** **outskirts,** **April** **5th,** **11.53am***_

Ash, Misty and Pikachu exited Vermillion Forest and took a moment to take in the view of Pewter City in the distance.

Ash and his Pokemon had spent most of the previous day keeping up with their training, and sometime late into the afternoon Pikachu had finally performed a perfect iron tail, taking a big chunk out of the side of the cherry blossom tree he had been practising against. After soaking in the praise this action earned him from his trainer, Misty and his fellow Pokemon, Pikachu had continued practising iron tail several more times to make sure his younger body was actually getting the hang of it.

A few more practise sessions early this morning to hammer in that the move had been perfected, Ash decided that between Pikachu knowing iron tail again and Butterfree's excellent performance against Samurai's Pinsir, there was hopefully no need to put off challenging Brock too much longer, so they might as well head towards Pewter city.

So, after a few hours of walking through the forest following the map on Misty's pokegear, here they all were just a ten minute walk away from their first big milestone on their quest to reach the Indigo League. To say Misty was feeling relieved to be out of the bug-infested forest right now would surely be an understatement.

Ash was grinning proudly towards the cityscape in the distance, feeling very confident.

"Boulder badge, here I come!" Ash shouted towards the city, pumping a fist into the air. Pikachu jumped up and did a V-sign with his left paw beside him. Misty giggled.

"Six years and a cosmic reboot later, and you're as excitable as ever" Misty said endearingly "Course, at least this time you came prepared. I'm still shocked you didn't even know what the Pokemon League was when we got here the last time around, Mr Pokemon Master"

"Pika, chu pika _*He didn't know what the Pokemon World Championships were six years later, either*"_ Pikachu said with a cheeky smirk. Ash frowned at him, glad Misty couldn't understand what he said.

"And six years later you all still love teasing me as much as you always did" Ash said, making sure to sound a lot grumpier than he actually felt in the moment. Misty rolled her eyes and walked up to playfully flick his ear.

"It's all in good fun. You know I care" Misty said in a cheery tone. Ash smirked as she continued "So, are you going to beat Brock before or after you give him his memories back?"

"After. Feels like it would be cheap to battle him when he has no idea what to expect" Ash replied.

Misty shrugged, looking amused "Like anyone knows what to expect from a crazy improv trainer like you. Oh well, it'll be nice to travel with Brock again anyway, I haven't met up with him since Alola… and boy, I can't wait to taste his cooking"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu's mouths all started to water as they pictured one of Brock's full course meals. Ash grinned playfully at Misty before suddenly sprinting forward towards the city.

"Last one to the Pokemon Center washes the dishes for a month" Ash called back quickly.

Misty gaped after her friend. At first she wanted to angrily protest and call Ash out on his childishness… but then she just shook her head and put on her own playful grin.

"You'll regret that when I beat you there!" Misty yelled as she took off after Ash. Pikachu watched the two teenagers sprint off into the distance for a moment with at first a blank stare, and then an approving smirk.

 _"Seriously, Ash… propose already. You two saps are made for each other"_ Pikachu quipped, chortling. He stood silently for a few seconds before a frown appeared on his face as a realization hit him "… _Crap! Now_ _I_ _have to run all the way to the city after them, don't I_ … _GREAT. Thanks_ _a_ _lot Ash, you better not make ME do the dishes!"_

Regretfully, Pikachu got down on all fours and began running after his trainer and their companion. He was about to use quick attack to catch up when his attention was briefly caught by a figure to his right.

Stopping very briefly, Pikachu saw that it was a seemingly bearded man whose eyes were largely obscured by a red hat he was wearing. Pikachu gave the man a brief smirk of recognition before launching himself forward with quick attack after his trainer, the bearded man staring after him oddly.

"… Well, I guess I won't be selling those kids any of my rocks"

* * *

_***Vermillion** **City** **Harbour,** **12.07pm***_

"Remind me why we're wearing these mascot costumes again, Tails?"

"You're kind of a celebrity Sonic, you randomly showing up at the docks in Vermillion City would attract a lot of attention. We don't want to make a scene before an official announcement has been made about Eggman's forces operating in Kanto"

"Okay, yeah, I get that. But just… why did I have to be the Slowpoke?"

A cruise liner had just arrived at the port in Vermillion City from the Sinnoh region, and a large crowd of people had gathered to greet family members and other friends arriving at the docks from the ship. Among them were Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails, dressed up in full body Pokemon costumes that one might see at some sort of festival or Halloween party. Sonic was dressed like a Slowpoke, while Tails was a machop.

The two disguised Mobians had attracted some odd looks from the people waiting at the docks at first, but they all seemed to get over them real quick, assuming that they were just kids doing cosplay or probably had something to do with the local Pokemon Fan Club. Really, it wasn't any of their business, and they all had people to greet or they wanted to board the ship themselves after the current passengers were finished exiting it.

"Sorry, these were the only full body disguises I could find, and only the Slowpoke one had a big enough head for your quills" Tails said, turning his head to the disguised Sonic, who kind of resembled a Slowpoke bobble-head at the moment.

Big-head Slowpoke Sonic crossed his arms "Fine, but Knuckles, Antoine and Shadow can never know about this, okay"

"Oh, don't worry… I won't tell" Tails said in what could only be described as a suspiciously innocent tone, putting his hands behind his head and chuckling lightly. Sonic looked at him oddly for a second before turning back to the throng of people exiting the ship.

 _'Is it just my imagination, or is Tails getting_ _a_ _lot sassier these days…_ _I dunno,_ _I_ _guess that's what happens when you hang around with me so often'_ Sonic thought, an amused smirk on his currently concealed face.

Sonic kept an eye out for the G-man he and Tails were supposed to be meeting at this harbour. The pupils of the eyes of the slowpoke costume he was wearing were made of a special kind of material that was mostly see through from the inside part of the costume, so he was able to look around just fine without having to remove the mask and risk being recognised as a famous superhero.

Supposedly the man he and Tails were meant to meet would be a guy with a brown coat, a blond wig and an obvious fake moustache, but he hadn't spotted anyone that fit that description just yet.

He had however spotted a green haired teenage girl meeting up with a brown haired farmer woman. Sonic narrowed his eyes, watching that girl curiously as she ran up and hugged the farmer woman.

Beyond having a sixth sense for danger, Tails' Uncle Merlin had explained to Sonic once that his repeated use of the chaos emeralds over the years and his natural affinity for chaos control due to his powers had given him a certain level of precognition.

He wasn't exactly a psychic, or a fortune teller like that one Kalos Gym Leader he'd met before named Olympia, but every now and then Sonic would randomly get these odd feelings, like something that seemed inconsequential was probably going to pop back up again in his life in a way he wouldn't expect.

Sometimes it would just be like a guy he randomly bumped into in the streets would sell him a pizza later. Sometimes Sonic got a feeling that one of Tails' inventions was in desperate need of a tune up. And sometimes, it was a sign that someone he met was going to play a major role in his life at some point in the future.

And that girl with green hair was giving off massive "Remember that face, she's going to be important" vibes right now.

"Hello there"

Sonic blinked, turning away from the green haired teen to stare up at a blond guy dressed in a mostly brown get up. He looked closely at his moustache.

_'Yep, definitely fake… this must be our guy'_

The man with the fake moustache glanced around cautiously, leaning down next to the Machop-disguised Tails and whispering "The Dodrio caws at sunset"

"And the Graveller uses rock throw to shut it up" Tails whispered back, earning an approving nod from the man.

"Sonic and Tails, I take it?" The man asked, just loud enough the duo could hear him but no passers-by would. The disguised Mobians both nodded and he smiled back at them "Agent Looker, pleased to finally meet you both. Could you escort me to the hotel so we can exchange Intel?"

"Sure thing" Tails said eagerly.

"Thank Arceus, an excuse to take this stupid costume off soon" Sonic said. He looked back to where the green haired girl had been a moment ago, only to see that she and her (Presumed) relative had disappeared among the crowds of people wandering around the docks. Sonic frowned, but decided not to worry about it too much for now as he followed Tails and the G-man called Looker back to the hotel they'd been staying at.

After all, assuming that really was his sixth sense playing up and not just his mind playing tricks on him, then Sonic would surely see that girl again in due time.

* * *

_***Hop** **Hop Hop** **Town,** **12.30pm***_

Jessie, James and Meowth strolled through the streets, dressed in the trenchcoat disguises that had served them well in Unova back in the old timeline. As this was an oddly quiet part of the normally busy town, they didn't feel the need to be too inconspicuous however and were currently engaged in conversation.

"I'm surprised we got this far so quickly in a hot air balloon. I never realized how fast that thing can go until we decided to stop trailing the twerps so closely" James mused, looking through the windows of a jewellery store as he and his teammates walked by.

"Helps that we put rockets on the back of it already this time around. Of course we might even be in Fuchsia City already if it hadn't been for those damn Beedrill" Jessie responded, rubbing her stomach where beneath the trenchcoat she still had a few slowly healing wounds from the Beedrill stings.

Following that unfortunate altercation in Viridian Forest, the Team Rocket Trio had spent most of Tuesday afternoon and evening trapped in cocoons, managing to just barely break free sometime late at night and quietly sneak away from the slumbering gang of Beedrill and Kakuna and return to their balloon, which had unfortunately deflated completely in the time they were gone.

The next day they had properly set out on their personal training journey. They had stopped in Hop Hop Hop Town earlier this morning, leaving their Meowth head balloon in a secluded part of a nearby forest, so that they could meet up with one of their regular clients from whom they would order parts to build giant robots and other useful gadgets to further their schemes whenever they were in Kanto.

Several of the key parts for the giant mech Jessie wanted to build would take a day to arrive, so for the moment she, James and Meowth were mostly just going around, taking in the local scenery and engaging in conversation, as well as planning out their next few moves.

Speaking of which, Meowth had been holding in a question for Jessie for the past two days, and decided now was probably a good time to ask.

"So where exactly do we go next once this fancy new robot a' yours is ready, anyway? What're these Pokémon dat are gonna knock the twoihps' socks off?"

Jessie recalled that she still hadn't smacked Meowth for his annoying snark the other day, decided she wasn't in the mood so she'd do it later and so put on a sinister smirk instead.

"You remember that big fossil rush a while back, right? I'm pretty sure it was the same little adventure where the main twerps' Charizard got fully evolved" Jessie said, stopping to lean against the window of a closed hair salon. James and Meowth came to a stop too and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Ah yes, a classic episode" James said, nodding wisely "And I think I also remember we got trapped in an underground cave with a bunch of fossil Pokémon that were inexplicably not as extinct as everyone says they were by the end of it, and then we were nearly eaten by the Aerodactyl. I don't quite remember how we got out of that one, do you Meowth?"

"How would I know? It happened off screen!"

"Oh, right. Forget about it then" James shook his head, motioning for Jessie to continue.

"The events that took place in off screen land are irrelevant. The part that matters is that at this point in time, there should still be an underground cave in some random canyon in Southern Kanto full of rare, and probably powerful ancient Pokémon" Jessie said, her devious smile growing wider until she started to look like a slasher movie villain "Sooo… what's stopping a couple of villains with a powerful robot from breaking into that cave, capturing some of those ancient Pokémon to train into Twerp-wrecking powerhouses, and giving the rest to their boss?"

James and Meowth stared at Jessie for a long time afterwards, their facial expressions gradually shifting from looks of uncertainty to great excitement.

"Why, Jessie… that's brilliant!" James exclaimed. Jessie threw back her hair and looked smug.

"I am, aren't I?" Jessie asked rhetorically.

"The best part is, with no Twoihps around anywhere near dat canyon… dat plan could actually work if we play our cards right" Meowth said, nodding eagerly as he put on his own scheming grin "Just think of the kind of damage we could do ta da Twoihp with an Aerodactyl. His strongest Pokémon from Kanto's a Charizard, and they're like double weak to rock types!"

"And a Kabutops and an Omastar could give it quadruple trouble, because they're also water types. And they're all very rare, so that must mean they're stronger than an average Pokémon" James said, rubbing his hands together.

"And like I said, we'll give the fossil Pokémon we don't need to the boss. Just imagine the look on his face when we send over such extremely rare Pokémon to headquarters. We'll probably all get big promotions. Even if this whole crazy "Rebel against Team Rocket to save the world so we can go back to being Team Rocket, or not" idea goes up in smokes, at least we'll get to enjoy being the Boss's new favourite minions for a while before that Beyond guy ruins everything" Jessie explained. She, James and Meowth exchanged wide grins and started dancing around in glee.

"We're gonna get strong Pokémon! We're gonna get strong Pokemon!" The Rockets chanted, walking in circles as they continued their dance. James suddenly stopped and looked thoughtful, causing Jessie to bump into him from behind and Meowth to do the same to her.

"… Meowth's charm for your thoughts?" Jessie prompted. Meowth put on a panicked look and covered the golden coin on his head, hissing defensively.

"Just a thought… how are we supposed to explain to the boss that we just conveniently found a cave full of extinct Pokemon that you can usually only get from reviving them from fossils in a lab?" James asked. Jessie and Meowth stared blankly at him.

"I mean… yes, it was a strange coincidence we ran into them all the last time, so we wouldn't be lying if we just said "Oh, we ran into them by complete accident and thought you might like them". But we were just in Viridian City doing grunt work, weren't we? Isn't it going to look suspicious that we just randomly took off to some Canyon East of Fuchsia city and called up headquarters with a fine collection of Omanite, Kabuto and so on?"

Jessie and Meowth stared at James in stunned silence.

"… We could tell 'im we got an anonymous tip about it?" Meowth offered after a while. Even he didn't seem confident about the suggestion though.

"And what if the boss keeps pressing us for the source? You'd think somebody randomly giving out information on where to find such impossibly rare Pokemon in the wild would be of great interest to the leader of Team Rocket. We can't exactly tell him we know about it because of stuff that happened in a past life without making things very awkward and difficult for ourselves, now can we" James said pointedly.

Jessie groaned in frustration and massaged her temples "You really had to go and kill the moment with logic, didn't you… okay, how's about we keep whatever spare ancient Pokemon we don't add to our team on hand for a while, and tell the boss we stole them from a lab or something in a few weeks. Would that be so suspicious?"

"Probably a lot less, admittedly" James nodded. Jessie slammed a fist into the palm of her hand.

"Problem solved then" Jessie said in a perky tone, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at James as if goading him to find more flaws in her plan.

Taking the hint, James waved his hands calmly and said "Alright, no worries, your plan is good. I'm just saying… the whole point of what we're doing is to prove we can be successful with our schemes, right? We keep rushing into things with the twerps and that always seems to bite us in the rears by the end of the day. So maybe we might want to think more carefully about the fine details of these plans before acting on them?"

Jessie opened her mouth to respond, paused briefly and twirled her finger through the air as she mulled over what James said, then shrugged "Okay, fair enough. At the very least, we all agree to grab that Aerodactyl and a few more ancient Pokemon for ourselves for the "Beat the twerps" plot, right?"

"Right" James and Meowth nodded.

Jessie clapped her hands and started walking down the street again with a satisfied smirk on her face "Okay then. Let's go grab some grub and argue about who gets what on their team. The Aerodactyl is mine though, that's not debatable"

"You can keep it. Victreebel and Carnivine I love, but I definitely don't need that thing chewing on my head" James snarked, humming thoughtfully as he and Meowth began following Jessie "And what's next?"

Jessie curiously looked over her shoulder "Eh?"

"Surely we're not going to fight the twerp with just fossil Pokemon. What other strong Pokemon are we going to catch that would do well against his Kanto team?" James elaborated, earning an "Ah" from Jessie.

"I dunno, I hadn't thought that far yet. Lickitung I definitely want to find again, if memory serves he shouldn't be too far away from that Canyon" Jessie said casually. She flipped around and began walking backwards, giving James a weary look "… And I suppose you want to find that annoying Victreebel again, right?"

"He'd be a Weepinbell at this point, actually. I'll have to see if our old friends Botch and Cassidy can spare us another leaf stone" James said, smiling smugly at Jessie as he added "And yes, of course I want Victreebel back. And if you and Meowth dare try and pawn him off again this time I'll let him chew on your head for a while"

Jessie's left eye twitched, and she gave James a frown that was both dangerous and also clearly impressed as she put her hands in her coat pockets before turning around to walk normally again "We'll see how that goes for you. You do recall how I caught Seviper now, don't you? Have any more suggestions, by the way?"

"I do" Meowth said, tapping James' leg to get his attention "Speaking of Pokemon we can find near dat Canyon, wasn't there a Growlithe at your folks' fancy mansion?"

James blinked, giving Meowth a disapproving look "You can't seriously think I want to drag poor Growlie into Team Rocket, do you? He's my childhood Pokemon and best friend, there's a reason I left him behind when I ran away"

"Well that didn't stop you from taking Carnivine and Nanny and Pop Pop's Mime Jr along for the ride, so what's the difference?" Jessie asked, looking over her shoulder again.

James clenched his teeth. He made to respond, but then his face turned blank and he came to a halt. Jessie and Meowth stopped walking a few seconds after to stare back at James, whose face had lit up.

"CARNIVINE!" James yelled, so loudly it made Jessie and Meowth stagger backwards. They blinked at James, who was grinning like an idiot.

"… Yes. What about him?" Jessie asked in a monotone.

"Carnivine is at my parents' mansion!" James practically cheered. Jessie and Meowth's eyes widened in surprise "Why didn't I think of that before! I brought him home to Kanto with me in this version of my life, and I left him behind with Growlie when I ran away!"

"You don't say…" Meowth nodded. He perked up "So, you can go get him early this time then?"

"I suppose that's not a bad choice" Jessie said, rubbing her chin contemplatively "I do recall you once beat the Sinnoh Twerpette's Mamoswine with Carnivine when you stood in for me at that contest, and he was hardly useless. It's better than Victreebel, anyway"

"Carnivine is one of the most reliable Pokemon I ever had and loyal to the bone… or whatever plants have instead of bones!" James said in a chipper tone of voice "He'll surely be a fine addition to our A-Team!"

"Okay, but won't that give us two grass types if you go grab Victreebel too? You don't think maybe we should aim for more variety?" Meowth pondered. James waved his hand dismissively.

"We're going to be using fossil Pokemon, which are all part rock type. And Koffing and Ekans are both poison-types, so what's the big deal" James said. Meowth frowned curiously at him.

"But doesn't that kinda just prove my poi-ah, forget it" Meowth sighed begrudgingly.

"Okay, so we're gonna raid your parents' place and steal back your Carnivine… so you'll bring Growlie along while you're at it" Jessie said, tapping her foot and looking expectantly at James.

James flinched "I-I didn't say that…"

"You're the one that just said you want to use Carnivine, another Pokemon you left at home in both timelines. So I'll repeat my previous point… what actually is the difference?" Jessie asked, her accusatory stare boring into James like a drill.

James hesitated for a long time after, unable to think of a good comeback. She had a point, it was kind of hypocritical to hold Growlie to a double standard after all the trouble he'd put Carnivine through as his regular battler back in Sinnoh.

But still…

James put a hand on his head, staring uneasily at the pavement "I just… I don't know. Growlie is such a sweet Pokemon" He sighed, knowing that excuse wouldn't hold up when he still brought Chimecco and Mime Jr with him on their travels, even when he didn't like sending them into battle "… Carnivine… Carnivine was always a bit of a scamp. A friendly Pokemon sure, but he loved getting into a good fight here or there. Growlie would fight to protect me or if it made me happy, but… I just don't want to, alright?! I love Growlie and I don't want to drag him into a life of crime! He'd be happier at home, I'm sure…"

"Ya sure about dat?" Meowth asked sincerely "He seemed to love youse as much as you do him, so I think he'd just be glad to stick with youse. Besides, you really think your trash bag parents are gonna take good care'a him? After the crappy job they did with youse?"

James went blank for a moment, and then the colour drained from his face as a look of horror crept up it.

"… Oh crap…" James muttered "… I never thought of it that way…"

Jessie snapped her fingers "So, you're bringing him along?"

James regained his composure, but still seemed uneasy about the whole prospect "… I'll think about it"

"Growlithe evolve into Arcanine, and a lot of the Arcanine we've met seemed pretty tough" Jessie said "If we got our hands on a firestone somewhere, your little Growlie really could be a powerhouse… the Twerps' Bulbasaur wouldn't stand a chance, I'm sure"

"I said I'd think about it!" James said stubbornly. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"So, Weezing, Arbok, Lickitung, Victreebel, Carnivine, at least a few ancient Pokemon like Aerodactyl and a Growlithe are going to be on our team" Meowth listed off, fiddling with the fedora he wore with his disguise "Not a bad line-up… of course, most of the Pokemon you guys usually used before were never that good against the Twoihps, but we were gonna train 'em up. Supposin' we only use like, three'a those fossil Pokemon like a Kabutops and Omastar, since we're giving most of them ta da boss when we have a good excuse… that's nine Pokemon. We'd still need three to have two sets'a full teams between you guys. What other Pokemon are we gonna snatch to fill those slots?"

Jessie and James exchanged uncertain looks, humming thoughtfully. A loud rumbling sound suddenly erupted from both of their stomachs, as well as Meowth's, prompting Jessie to shrug carelessly.

"We'll figure that out when we're done snatching up the fossil Pokemon. For now let's just go grab lunch. I haven't eaten all day" Jessie said, with a note of finality to her voice that made it clear she wouldn't abide by any attempts to further the discussion until her present needs were satisfied.

James and Meowth knew better than to complain, so followed her as they continued down the street, heading towards a sushi bar they knew of.

The Trio stopped by a road with streetlights, waiting for the green hand to flash to let passers by know it was safe to cross. The street wasn't that busy, so they could always just jaywalk, but Jessie had always been a tad superstitious about that sort of thing. It was while they were waiting that a thought occurred to Meowth.

'… _Jessie an'_ _James need full teams ta battle the Twoihp tha_ _best they can… but what's my role gonna be in all_ _that, den…?'_

Meowth stood motionless on the sidewalk, not even noticing the light had changed green until Jessie and James were halfway across the road and called back to him to keep up. The white cat shook his head and ran after his human companions.

Meowth would spend most of that day afterwards meditating on that stray thought.

* * *

_***Vermillion** **City,** **The** **snuggly** **Pysduck** **hotel.** **12.35pm***_

"So, where do you want us to start, Mr Looker?"

After meeting up with their new G-man ally at the pier, Sonic and Tails had led Looker to their two bedroom room on the fifth floor of Vermillion City's most luxurious five star hotel. They were booked to use this room for a whole week, all expenses anonymously paid for by Princess Sally Acorn and the Knothole royal treasury of course.

As far as the hotel staff were aware, the room was being rented to a Mr Kilo Meter, a well off Mobian mechanic from Saffron City who just coincidentally looked like Sonic the Hedgehog's sidekick Tails the fox if he had a bushy blue beard.

And yes, barring all logic the staff all seemed to buy that paper thin disguise without question. It made Sonic irritably wonder aloud if the Pokemon costumes were as necessary as Tails had insisted they were.

The room had two large beds set up a few feet apart from one another. Sonic and Tails were sat on the one close to the door of the rooms personal bathroom, while agent Looker sat across from the two Mobians on the other bed, looking down at them with a prying stare. Their disguises had all been quickly abandoned after shutting the door behind them and closing the blinds on the purple curtains.

"I read all the reports Lance sent me over about the Badnik sightings on Routes nine and sixteen three weeks ago" Looker began, in a no-nonsense tone that felt slightly jarring to Sonic and Tails in comparison to the casual, almost spacey way he had been talking to them for most of their walk to the hotel.

"From what I was told, there had been no other known sightings of Dr Eggman's robots in Kanto in the months beforehand following the start of the Doctor's mysterious absence the past five months. So while the possibility of the robots encountered by the Pokemon Rangers on those Routes being wayward badniks that had gone rogue was raised, as that's most commonly the case with Badnik sightings here in Kanto, the League wished to conduct a deeper investigation in case it was a warning sign of renewed activity from the good Doctor" Looker paused and crossed his arms, cracking an uneasy smile "And given that I just got a call two days ago that you two had encountered even more robots, I'm guessing that was a wise call"

Sonic and Tails nodded simultaneously.

"I'm curious to hear the full details of that encounter, your report to the league was rather brief" Looker said, raising an eyebrow "You mentioned something about… robot Pokemon?"

"Just a sec" Sonic said, jumping off the bed and wandering over to a nearby wardrobe. He casually tapped the right door to the wardrobe, and both the doors suddenly flew open, the remains of the robotic Alakazam he and Tails had destroyed the previous day collapsing out of it onto the floor.

Looker shot to his feet, gaping at the broken machine in stunned silence.

"We call it Metal Alakazam" Tails said, grabbing hold of his personal computer from the small cupboard to the side of the bed he was still sat on "We also fought two Metal Houndoom, but we handed those two over to Officer Jenny. They're at a forensic lab on the other side of the city right now. We kept this one so I could try my own hand at hacking its memory banks"

Looker kneeled down by the side of the mangled Poke-robot for a closer look, his eyes narrowing as he carefully examined every inch of the robot from head to toe. He gingerly stroked a hand around the area in the Metal Alakazam's chest where one of the energy blasts from the Cyclone had created a small dent, furrowing his brow curiously "As much as I hate to give a supervillain credit, this seems like a mighty fine piece of machinery. I'd like to see the schematics for it… such a waste, using such a thing for evil"

Looker stared up at Sonic "I'm guessing this is a new invention of Eggman's, then? You haven't encountered anything like this before, and the G-men simply weren't informed?"

"Nope. First time the guy's ever taken a crack at this sorta thing, somehow" Sonic shrugged casually, lightly kicking the Metal Alakazam in the hip.

Looker nodded "So he's definitely here in Kanto, then. Or at least he has been recently" He stood up and gave Tails an imploring look "You said you tried accessing it's memory bank… did that gain us any useful information?"

Tails sighed and shook his head, staring at the screen of his laptop and clicking away at the keyboard.

"Sadly no… Eggman seemed to have predicted we'd try something like that, so by the looks of it he programmed a security protocol that had all of the Metal Pokemon's memories erased the moment before their systems deactivated when we broke them. I did later discover that they had been sent a command signal from somewhere in Cerulean City right before they attacked us, Sonic met up with Amy there the next day and traced it to an old bicycle shop in the city. But whoever was sending it seems to have cleared out fast. Amy's still investigating around the area along with the local authorities, but she doesn't seem to be having much luck"

"Well, ain't that just terrific" Looker said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He scratched his chin and looked down at the black visor where the Metal Alakazam's eyes would be "What's your best guess on what these things were doing around route eleven, then?"

"We think it was an ambush for us, honestly" Tails replied, earning a surprised murmur from the G-man "The reason we went to Route eleven in the first place was because we picked up a trace of chaos energy, which we thought indicated either an active chaos emerald or a badnik running on what's called a chaos core. We assumed the latter once the robots attacked us, but after examining them the Metal Pokemon actually run on a similar kind of energy core as another one of Eggman's favourite robots, Metal Sonic"

"We searched the Route, and found some sort of box with a chaos core inside" Sonic continued, scratching his muzzle and looking like he was calmly discussing lunch options "Apparently the box opens and closes remotely, and the core was hooked up to something that charged up it's stored up chaos energy so it would show up on radar. The Freedom Fighters and League higher ups are the only ones who have the tech to track chaos energy besides old Egghead, so it's easy to figure out it was a trap for us"

"I see" Looker nodded, a look of discontent on his face "Which would also imply Eggman already knows we're onto him. Not a good sign…"

Looker hesitated, carefully mulling over everything he'd just been told "Why do you suppose he went for such a simple ambush? I mean, I understand wanting to test out his newest creations, but this blatantly gives away that he's most likely operating in this region, when he's spent such a long time carefully keeping off the radar. Surely with how many times he's fought you both, he would have sent even more of these Metal Pokemon to fight you if the intent was to kill you both. Is he that confident in whatever new scheme he might be concocting?"

"Well, Eggman does have an ego the size of a dynamaxed Wailord. No amount of humiliating smack downs has changed that yet, last I checked in" Sonic remarked, shaking his head playfully and leaning against one of the doors to the wardrobe "Frankly, it did weird me out that the Doc has kept quiet this long… Eggman's all about presentation, being as loud and bombastic and self-promoting as possible. If he has got a new big evil plot cooking, letting us know there's a party coming up and showing off his fancy new toys feels exactly in character"

"Right, right. That does sound on point from everything I've seen and read about him" Looker said, scratching his head meekly "I'm so used to investigating Pokemon Poachers and high class criminals that make it a point to always be discreet and keep a low profile, so maybe I was overthinking it… Still, the fact we don't actually have a good clue on his location other than he and his forces seem to be operating through North and Central Kanto mainly, or what his current objectives might be is disconcerting. Hopefully your friend Miss Rose has something to report the next time we check in"

Looker glared pensively at the Metal Alakazam's head for a moment before asking "… By the way, how strong were these things?"

"The Metal Pokemon all seemed to be able to replicate any attack the regular versions of the species they're based on can use, and they can take much harder hits. It took a lot of effort to break them" Tails answered, clicking a file on his laptop that brought up some schematics on the Metal Alakazam "There's a reason we're using the same terminology as with Metal Sonic… they're basically built the same way. Metal Sonic is obviously stronger and faster than either the Alakazam or Houndoom we fought, he's modelled after Sonic after all… but there's not too big a gap in how dangerous they are. Metal Alakazam in particular could have probably beaten us both if we weren't careful"

That sent a shiver up the ace detective's spine. He'd seen first hand how insanely powerful Alakazam could be, and how versatile their psychic attacks were.

The idea that someone could actually somehow perfectly replicate those abilities in a robot with more endurance than the real thing was a terrifying prospect even without the implication that the great Sonic the Hedgehog and his trusty sidekick Tails could have been felled by it.

"We're in hot water if he finds a way to mass produce these things" Looker direly observed. Even Sonic seemed to look a bit nervous at that prospect, if only for a moment.

"There's a reason he only ever made one Metal Sonic" Tails replied, scooching over to the side of the bed and holding up his laptop to give Looker a good view of the screen, which now showed a schematic of a robot that bore a resemblance to Sonic, but with much shorter quills, a pointed silver nose and similarly coloured muzzle that lacked a mouth, sharp claws instead of fingers and some sort of yellow indent on it's chest. A glowing red sphere was located next to the robots' specs that Looker presumed indicated the energy core the fox had earlier mentioned.

"Metal Sonic's main engine runs on a rare kind of material called a Deep Power Stone, mined from meteorites. There was a huge chunk of it kept in a vault in the Royal Castle in Mobotropolis, which Eggman stole years ago when he took over Knothole. Something about the Power Stone allows Metal Sonic to copy the bio-data of other living creatures, it's how he's able to match Sonic's abilities so precisely" Tails explained.

Looker nodded along "Since it's rare and you said the Metal Pokemon were powered by a similar energy source, I'm guessing it's safe to assume he didn't use the entire chunk of the stone he stole in Metal Sonic's creation?"

"Just part of it. We think he had enough left to make five more Metal Sonic's if he wanted to, but he never did. He did have to use a bit more of it after we knocked out Metal's core one time so he could repair him, though" Tails replied, smirking a bit as he recalled the huge grin on Knuckles' face after he managed to accomplish that "We assumed Eggman never used more of it because he didn't know where to find them. Only three known Power Stones have been found in the last hundred years, and one of them was destroyed"

"Pretty convenient for us" Sonic said, but not with the same laid back attitude he'd maintained for most of his interjections to this conversation, Looker quickly noticed. There was something rather foreboading about his tone "And it should have been even more convenient that Metal went and used up the rest of the stones Eggman had on his own crazy scheme last year"

Looker cocked his head at the Hedgehog.

"I assume Shadow must have let you and the other G-men know all about the Metal Overlord incident last year, right?" Tails asked. Looker turned back to him and nodded.

"You mean the time Metal Sonic suddenly decided to take his own shot at taking over the world, threw Eggman into a bunker and turned into some sort of giant draconian creature, and you two and the guardian of Angel Island used the chaos emeralds together to defeat him?" Looker replied. Tails snapped his fingers and gave him a thumbs up, to which Looker smiled "Yes, that was quite an interesting adventure, by the sounds of it. All of the Freedom Fighters and even the Power Rangers got involved in it along with Team Dark. What do the Power Stones have to do with it?"

"Well, this is all stuff we found out later, but the reason Metal Sonic was able to power up and transform the way he did was because he copied the bio data from not only every member of the Freedom Fighters, but the Power Rangers' Megazord too" Tails said. Looker's eyebrows seemed to almost shoot off his head "Normally he shouldn't be able to copy more than one other living beings' bio data, but he combined the remaining chunks of the Power Stone Eggman kept in storage with his own, supercharging himself. We had to destroy the whole combined Power Stone to beat him, in the end"

Looker's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. After taking a moment to process it, he put a hand to his mouth and bit his finger, dwelling on the implications of that story.

"You destroyed all the remaining pieces of the Power Stone Eggman had in his possession" Looker said, and Sonic and Tails nodded, their expressions encouraging him to continue "… And the Metal Pokemon had similar energy cores to Metal Sonic… their own Power Stones… meaning-"

"He found more" Sonic concluded for the detective, who proceeded to facepalm and slowly rub his face.

"Well… that might actually explain a lot" Looker muttered darkly, hand now under his chin "Metal Sonic may have betrayed him, but he was also one of Dr Eggman's most powerful and consistently used creations. And that Power Stone sounds like something he wouldn't appreciate losing… he's clearly found more, and he seemingly had enough to waste on three Metal Pokemon that we can't necessarily assume he was entirely sure would finish you two off, he probably would have taken part in the attack himself if that was the intent"

Looker scratched his head, letting out a mirthless laugh "I'm guessing my concern about him mass producing more Metal Pokemon might become a reality if we don't act fast, huh?"

"It all depends on how many power stones he's found" Tails said, looking intently at the red sphere on his computer screen "You're right that it's pretty suspicious he'd be willing to waste three of them in one go… I don't know where in the world he'd find enough to make an armies worth, but Eggman's been off the grid for five months and he's crazy determined. I wouldn't put that past him"

Looker crossed his arms and glared at the broken Metal Alakazam "Well… I'd say this isn't quite as terrifying as the Death Egg… but I saw what Metal Overlord looked like in Omega's footage, and how it almost singlehandedly toppled the Megazord, something they say once vaporized an entire swarm of comets. Who knows what sort of superweapons he could build with enough of these power stones, like if he decided to make a Metal Groudon or Zygarde… or heck, even just an army of these super Pokemon robots sounds like a nightmare. His regular badniks are bad enough, an army of Metal Pokemon could tear apart this whole region…"

There was a long and uncomfortable pause following the detective's grim assessment. Tails stared at the image of Metal Sonic on his computer screen with a concerned look on his face, while Looker shuffled his feet and frowned thoughtfully. Sonic kept his eyes closed for the duration of it, an unreadable expression on his own face as everyone considered the situation.

Finally getting bored of the gloomy atmosphere, Sonic opened his eyes, shrugged casually at Looker and, in a confident, peppy tone declared "Then you'll just have to help us find where the Egghead is hiding, and we'll go kick his butt before things get that bad, same as always. And if worst comes to worst, I'll still find a way to beat him"

Looker examined the expression on Sonic's face closely and considered his tone of voice. There really was no sign of doubt in the young hedgehog's declaration. Looker was sure he'd picked up a note of trepidation in Sonic's tone earlier when discussing the Metal Pokemon, so he clearly recognized Eggman and his Metal Pokemon as a threat: but that didn't seem to leave him feeling doubtful of their odds at all.

He obviously wasn't trying to sound inspirational to mask any self-doubts, Looker knew all of even the most subtle tell-tale signs that someone was lying or putting on a front, and he could spot nothing to indicate Sonic was anything less than completely optimistic they would all triumph over Eggman.

Looker had to smile at that. Some might say he was being over confident, but Sonic and his fellow Freedom Fighters had foiled Dr Eggman's evil schemes dozens of times over, so much as Looker wanted to treat Eggman and his forces with the seriousness they warranted, he couldn't claim the hedgehog's confidence was unearned. He had more right to it than all the upstart young trainers who claimed their Pokemon could easily beat one of the Doctor's powerful mech's in a fight, anyway.

And the positive attitude was probably just what they needed to get through this potential crisis. No one really performed to the best of their abilities under intense stress, after all, no matter how many abusive employers he'd reported on claimed otherwise.

"In that case I'd better get to work right away" Looker said with an amused smirk, which Sonic mimicked.

Tails wore a more appreciative smile as he set his laptop aside and made for a desk sitting by the wall between the two beds, pulling out a memory stick which he quickly handed over to Looker.

"This has all the information we've gathered on the badnik sightings and the Metal Pokemon including schematics, in case you want to review it" Tails said.

"Thank you" Looker said with a courteous nod, pocketing the memory stick "I have some informants and people who owe me favours connected to the criminal underworld and black market here in Kanto, I'll call up as many as I can and see if we can dig up any information on undercover dealings of metal and equipment the doctor could use to build his robots. He has to be getting at least some of the parts from somewhere local, after all. You two and the other Freedom Fighters continue your own investigations and keep in close contact, as soon as either of us find a lead let's keep each other informed so we can all act immediately"

Sonic and Tails nodded in agreement. Looker stared between them for a moment before closing his eyes, putting a hand to his chin and chuckling, looking borderline giddy. Sonic cocked his head at this, to which Looker opened his eyes and grinned at him.

"Putting professionalism aside for a moment... I'm a really big fan of you Freedom Fighters" Looker told Sonic with earnest enthusiasm "The world owes you no end of depts for your tireless efforts to defend it, from Eggman and other threats. Your heroics really inspire me to work harder and do the best job I can in the fight for justice, so it's an honor to finally get the chance to work with you"

Sonic stared up at Looker's grinning face curiously for a moment. A smirk spread across his own face, and Sonic quickly jumped up to stand on the bed Tails had just been sitting on so he was almost eye level with the black haired detective.

"Pleasures all ours, bud" Sonic said, holding his hand out to Looker, who gladly shook it, trying not to look overexcited.

"Alright then" Looker said, looking Sonic in his emerald green eyes as a spark of determination flowed between them "Let's go save the world"

* * *

_***Pewter** **City** **Pokemon Center, 2pm*** _

"Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokemon to full health. We hope to see you again"

Nurse Joy placed a large tray carrying Pikachu as well as four pokeballs, two containing Misty's Starmie and Staryu, and the others housing Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeotto, on the counter. Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulders as the trainer pocketed his two pokeballs, thanking the pink haired nurse and her Chansey before rejoining Misty by the free to use PC in the far left corner of the center, who he handed the two remaining pokeballs to.

Despite Ash's sudden head start, Misty had managed to beat him in their race to the Pokemon Center in the end. After a few minutes of gloating from the red-head, the two teens had left their Pokemon with Nurse Joy for a quick check up and treatments. Ash had to make sure they were all in good health after a few days training in a forest, even if he didn't have a gym battle to worry about.

During that time Ash had made calls to his mother and professor Oak. The former had been answered by Mimey, whose pantomining had suggested his mother and Molly were at the restaurant Delia owned, while he simply got no answer from Professor Oak. Ash had texted the Professor to let him know about the missed call, and Oak had simply responded that he was busy taking care of some business and to call back when Brock was with him, and that Ash should check his emails. He did give Ash the go ahead to send over Goh's Pinsir however.

So for the past hour or so while Ash and Misty had been waiting, they'd passed the time reading through a long list of online news articles and Wikipedia pages Professor Oak had provided Ash links to.

The first link Ash and Misty had clicked on directed them to a research paper about the Dynamax Phenomenon by Professor Magnolia of the Galar Region. It went into a lot of detail about the scientific research behind how Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing worked and the history to it's usage in competitive Pokemon battling in Galar and theories behind the origins of the phenomenon, and Ash's eyes just glazed over reading it because it all came off as complicated mumbo-jumbo to him.

It did however contain some notes that Ash found interesting, including a list of Pokemon that were known to be able to Gigantamax including many he hadn't witnessed including Lapras, Blastoise and Gengar (Which made Ash very curious if his own Gengar would have been able to do it).

The research paper towards the end also talked about how Dynamaxing had been observed in select locations of other regions, as Professor Oak had briefly mentioned to him before.

Unlike Professor Oak though, Magnolia's report actually listed off locations where it was known to happen, including The Lake of Rage, one of the Whirl Islands, Pikachu Valley, The Village of Dragons, Pinwheel forest, Iron Island, Meteor Falls, and the Hoenn Safari Zone ("Wait, they have one in Hoenn?" Ash had wondered aloud).

Ash nodded thoughtfully when he and Misty were done with that article. He wasn't sure how useful that information could be to him, he didn't have a dynamax band in this timeline and he couldn't imagine he'd have to go to Galar for a while. And he couldn't really use dynamaxing for official battles, so what else could he do with it at any of those locations?

Still, it would probably be fun to see more of dynamaxing, and what kind of Pokemon in those regions it happened to naturally. So Ash was definitely going to check it out anyway whenever he passed through any of those places.

Come to think of it though, one of the places it happened was The Village of Dragons? Iris would probably have some interesting childhood stories to tell him this time around about giant Hydreigons and Haxorus' getting into battles then.

The second link (By which Professor Oak had typed the words "Very Important") took them to the Wikipedia page for someone called Scrooge McDuck, who Ash quickly realized was the owner and CEO of Silph Co. in this reality the Professor had also brought up in passing.

Scrooge McDuck's profile picture showed him to be an anthropomorphic white duck dressed in a fancy blue coat, glasses and a black top hat. He didn't seem to be wearing pants though for some reason, but he did have these red… things covering part of the tops of his feet that Ash had no idea what they were called. They couldn't have been socks or shoes, could they? Oh, and he also had a cane.

The feathers along the sides of Scrooge's face gave the impression that the duck had a beard, though this didn't seem to extend under his bill. Scrooge was dignified in his stance, but he had a smile that Ash thought probably resembled how he himself appeared during a good battle.

Ash got the strangest feeling he'd seen a duck that looked a lot like him somewhere, but couldn't clearly recall where. It was probably a thing to do with his new timeline memories acting up, he figured.

Ash and Misty mostly scimmed over Scrooge's profile at first, learning that the so called "Richest Duck in the world" hailed from the Galar Region. Apparently he was a famous adventurer and treasure hunter that had started making his fortune through selling rare treasures to museums, and had gone on to start or buy out a large number of companies and businesses throughout many different regions (He apparently monopolized the tech industry in several regions, with the exception of certain regions like Hoenn where Devon Corp still dominated).

Silph Co. was apparently the current crown jewel of it all though, and had seen a merger with his own primary business McDuck Industries. Currently Scrooge seemed to reside in a large Mansion on the outskirts of Saffron city, apparently with a number of relatives.

The Wikipedia profile also claimed that Scrooge McDuck was over a hundred and fifty years old. Ash and Misty had a hard time believing that at first, but concluded that with all the weird stuff in the world it was certainly a possibility.

He certainly didn't LOOK that old in the picture, he seemed no more elderly than Professor Oak. From the old timeline, specifically.

Scrooge seemed like an interesting guy, but Ash and Misty both struggled to put a finger on why Professor Oak had emphasized how important it was for them to know about him outside of that he just happened to be a famous, important business tychoon…

Until they got to a part of the article that described Scrooge as being the reigning Pokemon World Champion for the past thirty years in a row.

Ash and Pikachu's eyes nearly shot out of their sockets upon reading that.

"… Well. I guess you're going to have to battle this guy at some point, Ash" A similarly surprised, though less comically so Misty had said.

Ash quickly scrolled further down on the article, reading through a list of trainer accomplishments that seemed endless. As was the list of Pokemon Wikipedia said Scrooge was known to own, even including many Pokemon Ash had never heard of before, including something called a Mr Rime which sounded like it had to be related to Mimey in some way.

Ash's heart had been pounding just thinking about it all. The end goal he would have to accomplish for saving the world from the Beyonder was for him to become the World Champion Pokemon Trainer.

There were a few years left ahead of Ash before he had to enter the PWC, and Leon would surely take part at some point again and probably become the new World Champion once more… but assuming he didn't retire or anything, surely a trainer like this Scrooge McDuck, who'd won the whole international league thirty times in a row, would still be in the Master Class by then. Or even maintain his title against Leon.

And as Misty pointed out, Ash would need to battle with Scrooge and beat him at some point if that were the case. No wonder Professor Oak wanted him to do his homework on the guy, because looking at this profile, Scrooge McDuck might just be the most accomplished trainer Ash had ever heard of in either of his lifetimes.

Needless to say, the thought of battling someone like that got Ash super excited.

Nervous and concerned too, there were battles Ash literally couldn't afford to lose this time around if he wanted to save the world and that would include any he ended up having with Scrooge in the World Championships. Consciously Ash knew he had to take this duck seriously.

But at the same time… Ash loved battling and having such huge challenges to overcome on his quest to become a Pokemon Master. So how could he NOT be overwhelmed with anticipation for facing off against Scrooge?

Ash and Misty had briefly looked up some clips of Scrooge battling online, finding the fancy dressed duck commanding Pokemon like Garchomp, Haxorus and what the video title said was his Mr Rime (Which was DEFINITELY related to Mr Mime in some way, but probably a very different kind than the ones Ash was familiar with. A regional variant, maybe?) Against trainers like Lance, Alder and Brandon. And in each of those battles, Scrooge had been the victor, his Mr Rime even taking out Brandon's Regirock.

"Oh yeah, I definitely can't wait to battle this guy" Ash had said eagerly after that last clip ended. Misty had rolled her eyes at him and reminded Ash that the fate of the world would probably depend on him specifically not losing to the guy, and Ash went quiet for a moment before returning to Oak's email and clicking on a third link.

Said third link was for an article about Sonic the Hedgehog, the Mobian "Superhero" as Viridian City's Nurse Joy had called him, who had randomly shown up to apprehend Team Rocket.

The article went into some detail about Sonic's life in the Kingdom of Knothole, his friendship with a Mobian Princess and how he was apparently part of some group called the Freedom Fighters that sounded like what Ash pictured the Pokemon G-men to be. The article also had a brief interview with Sonic and touched on his battles with a guy called Dr Eggman, some kind of super villain scientist who sounded like if Jessie, James and Meowth were a lot more dangerous and menacing but still just as goofy.

Reading this article had actually triggered some more flashbacks for Ash of watching news reports about Sonic going up against Eggman and a bunch of other villains, and apparently Ash was something of a fan of him?

Made him feel suddenly more awkward about how he'd just gaped at him in disbelief back in Viridian. Misty felt much the same about not recognizing him, complaining about how the rush of memories from the old timeline was scrambling her brains.

There were also some history paper like articles Oak linked about Knothole and Mobians in general, but Ash and Misty decided to mostly skip over those and read them later, wanting to read into stuff that was more immediately interesting to Ash.

And boy, did the next link Ash clicked on afterwards give him something interesting to dwell on, because apparently there were aliens that weren't Clefairy in Spaceships, Pokemon that were probably from space like Lunatone and Solrock, Pokemon that definitely lived in space like Mineor, and Deoxys.

Specifically, there were these two Galactic conquerors called Lord Zedd and Empress Rita, a skinless man with exposed metal bones along his chest that looked like something out of a comic book and a woman wearing the goofiest outfit Ash had ever seen.

They were apparently supervillains that lived in a palace on the moon, and were known to send monsters of various sizes that looked nothing like Pokemon to attack the Hoenn region on a regular basis, but were frequently opposed by a team of colourful armour wearing superheroes called the Power Rangers who had their own set of giant robot creatures (Referred to as dinosaurs, apparently) that merged into one really big robot.

Ash had to take ten minutes to sit back and let all of that information sink in. It seemed people, especially Angie, just couldn't stop bringing up how ridiculous Ash's life and the adventures he got himself into were, and Ash had come to feel like almost nothing in the world could surprise him anymore.

All of this Power Ranger stuff, though… this was all just too weird even for Ash to accept that it was reality now.

Forget Iris and giant dragon types, May and Max were going to have some interesting stuff to talk about whenever Ash met up with them again.

Misty for her part seemed to have her current timeline memories of them a bit more up to date than those of Sonic, but the part of her mind that knew these people DEFINITELY weren't a thing in the proper timeline was still flabbergasted that their world had been merged with one full of stuff that outlandish.

There were a few more links in Professor Oak's email, but Ash and Misty hadn't had a chance to click on any more when Nurse Joy had called for Ash at the counter. So for the moment, Ash logged out of his emails and turned off the PC. He had plenty of time to read everything else later. Right now, there were more important things to take care of.

"You ready to go meet Brock, Pikachu?" Ash asked, earning a nod and a determined smirk from his partner.

"With all the other crazy changes to this world, how much do you want to bet in this reality he's going to turn out to be engaged to Lorelai of the Elite Four?" Misty quipped. Ash chuckled.

"Aliens and talking ducks I can sort of believe no matter how ridiculous, but there's got to be some limit to the craziness, so I doubt that" Ash replied, scratching the back of his head. Misty shrugged at him.

"Hey, I wouldn't believe it either if my sister and Tracey weren't a thing in this timeline" Misty said off-handedly. She noticed Ash suddenly give her an odd look and frowned curiously at him "What?"

"Who's Lorelai?" Ash asked. Misty blinked uncertainly at him, though quickly appeared to have an "Ah-ha" moment.

"Oh, right, Lorelai… that's Prima" Misty answered. Ash and Pikachu raised their eyebrows "You know, Prima, from the Orange Islands? Lorelai's her name now… at least, I think it's her… they both look exactly the same in my mind except Lorelai's hair is red, but they're both Ice and Water type trainers from the Kanto Elite Four. So… yeah, must be the same people"

"… Okay then" Ash said with a half-hearted shrug "At least that change is something small and not that weird"

Ash shook his head and motioned for Misty to follow him, walking wordlessly out the door of the Pokemon Center and in the direction he remembered the Pewter City Gym to be. He'd had enough exposition about this weird timeline for one day and he really just wanted to get his first Kanto Gym battle out of the way…

After he'd certainly have to give Brock a long-winded explanation about how the timeline had been altered, that is.

Ash stopped for a minute and sighed, earning a curious look from Misty who was about to ask him what was up before he quickly started walking again.

After a good ten minutes of walking, Ash, Misty and Pikachu arrived at the Gym. Ash stood in front of the door for a minute before entering, taking a moment to soak in the wave of nostalgia rushing over him as he thought back to the first time he had met Brock, back when he was a clueless rookie who didn't even understand that type advantages were a thing (Not that Ash wasn't still liable to slip up from time to time… in his defense, there were hundreds of Pokemon and it wasn't always easy to keep track of what all of their types were when like half of all Pokemon seemed to have more than one of them).

It was with a determined and eager look on his face that Ash finally pushed open the doors to the Pewter Gym and walked inside. He may have been a novice the first time around, but this time he was anything but.

After making his way through a small lobby Ash was sure the Gym didn't have in the old timeline and even Misty expressed surprise by, Ash, Misty and Pikachu passed through another door into a very dark room.

"Does he keep the lights off to save on the electric bill or something?" Misty whispered, and Ash recalled how the Gym had been similarly poorly lit at first the last time he arrived here for the first time.

"Welcome"

There was a sudden flash as the Gym became illuminated by multiple overhanging spotlights, revealing an earthy battlefield with many rocks of various sizes scattered throughout it, which Ash swore was almost twice the size it was as the last time he'd visited this Gym.

It also revealed the Gym Leader, a man dressed in a green vest and brown jeans, sitting in a meditative position on a small stone pedestal at the end of the room. The man had spiky brown hair and earthy brown skin, and eyes that looked thin and permanently sealed. Which did little to make him less expressive, as the piercing stare he directed at his sudden guests made clear.

"Pika _*No, he just likes his dramatic reveals*"_

"My name is Brock, leader of the Pewter City Gym" The man on the stone pedestal introduced himself "I presume at least one of you is here for a Gym battle?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. And yeah, I am" Ash answered, smiling eagerly at the current incarnation of his old friend along with Pikachu and Misty.

Brock met their expressions with a slightly raised eyebrow initially, but seemed to brush it off quickly and rose to his feet before jumping down from his pedestal. Ash ran across the Rocky terrain of the central battlefield to get a better look at him, jerking to a very sudden halt when he was a few steps away when he realized that Brock was not only taller than Professors Oak and Kukui now, but looked about as well built as the latter professor too. Didn't have Kukui's beard, but he had enough stubble to indicate he could grow one if he wanted, and was probably even trying to.

Again Brock regarded Ash's behavior with a mildly curious look on his face, probably assuming he was kind of a klutz, Ash figured.

"Pallet Town, huh?" Brock said, looking Ash up and down curiously "First challenger I've had from there since the new League season started. I'll assume you're aiming for your first Gym Badge then, since this is the closest Gym in this part of Kanto besides the Viridian Gym, and no offense but I doubt you could have beaten Giovanni considering he never goes easy on rookies"

"Yeah, this is my first Gym battle" Ash said _'Technically'_

"I see" Brock nodded, his expression mostly firm and giving off a sense of authority, but he did manage a friendly smile that was more welcoming than anything Ash had seen of him during their original first meeting.

Actually now that Ash thought about it, Brock seemed almost uncharacteristically cold and intimidating back then. If Ash had to guess it was probably something related to stress from having to look after and provide for his family after his parents ran off making him more on edge and less open than he normally was.

Or maybe Ash's lack of familiarity with Brock at the time and what he was really like and that Ash was mostly looking at him as a foe he had to overcome made him look at Brock's words and mannerisms in a less pleasant light than he'd meant to come off. Or... maybe it was a bit of both.

It wasn't too important, and at any rate Ash was spared from over thinking the issue when Brock suddenly said "In that case, would you like me to explain to you the rules of Gym Battling?"

"Oh, no, trust me, I know everything I need to know about Gyms and the League" Ash said, hastily shaking his hands and feet to prevent an exposition dump he didn't need. When he was done with that Ash held out his hand to Brock and grinned eagerly at him "It would be really helpful if you would shake my hand though!"

Brock stared curiously at the extended hand for a moment, then raised his head and pursed his lips at Ash "Eh?"

Ash scratched the back of his head with his free hand and tried to look innocent in his enthusiasm "You know, to commemorate this important moment on my journey, and as a show of... uh, good sportsmanship! Yeah"

Brock cocked his head at the cap-wearing trainer, chuckling with awkward amusement "Okay... kinda feels like you're skipping a few steps there. Usually people do that after the Gym battle, or at least introduce themselves a bit more. You just got here, and I haven't even explained what this Gym specializes in. Though you can probably tell..."

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm in a hurry, so if you don't mind" Ash said, waving his hand up and down slightly for emphasis.

"Pikachu _*Pretty please, Brock!"_ Pikachu said in a sickeningly sweet tone, looking at Brock with a cute pout and wide, pleading eyes. Brock looked a little put off by the display actually, scratching the side of his head and wearing a "Something weird is going on here" expression.

"Just shake his hand already" Misty said dryly, having just finished calmly walking across the rock covered battlefield to join Ash and her other soon to be friend "He won't start the battle or go away until you do, so do yourself the favour"

Brock scratched his head some more at that comment, but nonetheless relented and clasped his hand against Ash's. Ash and Pikachu giggled victoriously "Well, alright, if you say so. Here's to a good first-"

_'Remember'_

Brock's eyes actually seemed to bulge half-way open for a brief instant as the now very visibly adult Gym Leader fell silent, his mouth hanging open and his grip on Ash's hand loosening.

To Ash's surprise Brock actually flailed around briefly, pulling his hand free and unknowingly slapping Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder before falling backwards. Ash just barely managed to steady him by grabbing both of Brock's hands, and Misty rushed forward to help gently lower him to the ground, resting his head against her knee and holding it gently in her arms in case he flailed some more.

He didn't luckily, but the experience still gave Ash and Misty quite a fright, and left Ash worried he might have done something wrong with his reminding trick this time.

On the floor Pikachu sat up and shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy from the unexpected bump. He gave the now silent and spaced out Brock a worried look.

"Pika. Chu? _*Well, that was_ _a_ _more violent reaction than usual. Guess not everyone takes to it calmly?"_

 _'I hope that's all it is'_ Ash thought to himself.

Ash, Misty and Pikachu sat by the disoriented Brock's side for about a minute, anxiously watching as Brock stirred uncomfortably and stared distantly at the roof. Eventually Brock scrunched up his face and gritted his teeth, then suddenly relaxed and squinted his already mostly shut eyes uncertainly. He looked between Ash, Misty and Pikachu's faces in turn before leaning his head back and staring blankly at the ceiling for another twenty seconds.

"... ... ..." Brock sighed tiredly "... That was weird"

Brock sat up very suddenly, stretched his arms into the air for a moment before scratching his head and rounding on Ash, who waved nervously at him. Brock pursed his lips for a moment, but eventually smiled weakly and waved back at him, much to Ash, Misty and Pikachu's relief.

"Just to be clear, you remember who I am, right?" Ash asked.

"Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. My friend for six years now" Brock answered immediately "We travelled together across Kanto and Johto along with my other good friend Misty right here" Brock gestured to Misty, who grinned and waved back at him "Then we travelled through two other regions and Kanto again with a few other friends who don't seem to be here..."

Brock paused, taking a long moment to examine and adjust to his surroundings "... And apparently you're challenging me to your first Gym battle right now... because I'm a gym leader, and not a doctor in training... and we just met... and I think I'm still twenty one... what?"

The expression on Brock's face gave off major "Does not compute" vibes, prompting Misty to sigh and tenderly place a hand on Brock's left shoulder.

"Time travel nonsense is involved" Misty said plainly. Brock nodded, muttering a quick "ah".

"Time travel... okay, that makes sense" Brock said. After a moment's hesitation and looking deeply contemplative, Brock looked at Ash again and asked "Was it Dialga again? Did Cyrus come back from the great beyond and take control of it and Palkia again to mess up reality"

"No... that would be a lot simpler" Ash said, shaking his head "No, actually a jerk God in a disco suit from another universe rebooted the universe as part of a stupid game we have to play"

Brock stared silently at Ash for a full minute after that explanation, not even flinching. Eventually he simply shrugged and replied "Okay... that's a new one"

Brock gasped sharply and put a hand to his head, seemingly nursing a sudden migraine. Ash and Misty flinched and moved back a bit at the sight of it. They held their hands out suddenly in case they needed to steady Brock if he started flailing around again, but froze up quickly when Brock suddenly looked calm again and sighed deeply.

Pikachu did jump up onto Brock's lap and start nuzzling his head against his chest though, to which Brock smiled and patted the mouse's head gratefully.

"So..." Brock said slowly, looking imploringly at Ash "... You gonna give me the full details now, or do we have to do something else first?"

"We can do it right now... unless YOU have anything better to do?" Ash said semi sarcastically, which succeeded at getting Brock to crack a small smile.

"Weeell, I'm pretty sure I DID have a lecture to attend in a few minutes, but something tells me we're not at the point in time where I have to worry about that now, sooo..." Brock said with a bit of his own snark. His expression slowly turned seriously "... Yeah. Tell me what's going on here"

Ash motioned for Brock to get up and go sit on his pedestal again, which he did so after gently lifting Pikachu off of his lap. Ash and Misty settled for sitting on the floor in front of the pedestal.

Ash loudly cleared his throat and looked Brock in his closed eyes with an expression of utmost seriousness.

"So... it all started when the world suddenly ended out of nowhere..."

* * *

_**(20** **minutes** **later)**_

Brock tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"… Well, that's all very… interesting" He admitted. After a moment of silence he continued "You know, I always wondered if we were ever going to see Arceus again. We rarely seem to bump into any legendary Pokemon just once… or at least you definitely don't, Ash. But out of all the possible "End of the world" scenarios that might involve that I thought up in my spare time… none of them went quite like this"

"Honestly, I always thought if the world was going to end it'd be because Team Rocket accidentally woke up some ancient evil Pokemon in the center of the world with a grudge against humans or something" Said Ash. Misty laughed sarcastically.

"We'd probably have a much easier time dealing with that than this whole weird reboot thing, it sounds a lot more in your ball park"

"Should I be concerned about how accurate that sounds?" Brock wondered aloud. He shook his head and gave Ash a serious look "Okay, I'm probably going to need some time to let my mind settle when we're done here so bear with me on that… but I get the picture. We're back in time, world's in trouble and you want me to travel with you again to help you fix it"

"And that's okay with you, right?" Ash asked hopefully.

"Duh" Brock answered with a smile. He and Ash fistbumped "… Not like I could really say no to something like this, but even if I could I wouldn't want to"

"Thanks, Brock" Ash said, scratching his head sheepishly "Sorry if this gets in the way of your training to be a doctor and all…"

Brock grumbled inaudibly over that for a moment, but eventually sighed in resignation and offered Ash a half hearted shrug "Can't be a Pokemon doctor if the world's ended. And the me of this time might not have even decided to become one if I never started travelling with you anyway. Who knows if I'd even start travelling or focus on much whenever my dad bothered to start taking some responsibility over my brothers and sisters again for five minutes, come to think of it"

"Now there's an interesting thing to consider. What would a timeline where neither of us met Ash look like" Misty said, humming thoughtfully and staring at the ceiling "… I'd like to say our lives would get so normal it'd be boring, but then I realise the world would probably get destroyed a couple dozen times, so… yeah, I'm happy with the crazy life"

"Hopefully this'll be the only time the world ever gets altered like this if Ash wins this whole weird bet, so we never have to think too hard about that" Brock said, rubbing his temples. Ash, Misty and Pikachu noted the tired expression on Brock's face as he did so and gave him sympathetic looks.

"… Hey, are you… are you sure you're alright?" Misty asked softly. Brock took a deep breath and looked at her calmly.

"Oh, I'm… I'm fine, really. Just… you know" Brock said, somewhat distantly.

"Yeah, I… kinda do" Misty nodded, thinking back to how disorientating having her memories restored had been for a few minutes afterwards, and how much her head still spinned whenever she thought too hard about the two divergent lives she now recalled simultaneously.

Ash shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very guilty. Pikachu took notice and patted the side of his face in a comforting manner.

"Do you want to talk about it, Brock? Or maybe just be alone to think about everything for a while?" Ash offered "I can always wait to have a Gym Battle again, I know this is probably-"

"No, no, it's fine I-actually, I'd really like a battle right now" Brock interjected, smiling slightly "That'd probably do a lot to clear my head. And you say you need to win the Indigo League, right? Can't do that without eight badges, so we probably should hurry up and get started on that"

Ash nodded in confirmation, though still looked a bit perturbed "You sure you're up for it, though? I don't want to win if you're too dizzy from having a bunch of old memories rushing through your head to concentrate"

"Ah, it'll be fine" Brock waved him off "And hey, if I am off my game during it, we can always have a rematch later whenever there's time for it. I'm guessing you really want to get around to finding all your old Pokemon pretty soon, don't you"

 _'Well, true'_ Ash thought to himself. He hesitated for a moment, but an eager nod from Pikachu eased his worries, and Ash gave Brock a determined grin "Alright, if you say so, Brock. Don't feel too bad when I beat you this time, though!"

Brock stroked his chin and flashed Ash a cheeky smirk "Confident as ever, aren't ya… but don't you be so surprised when I don't make it that easy for you" He turned to Misty "Would you mind being the referee? I'd ask Forrest, but he's in the back room looking after all the others"

Misty nodded "Sure, why not"

Brock gave Misty an appreciative nod, and then frowned and scratched the side of his head "Come to think of it… why didn't I have a referee ready? That's weirdly unprofessional of me… ah well, not that important. You ready to go, Ash?"

Ash ran up to the challengers' side of the ring in response, turning around to face Brock with much excitement "I'm all set!"

"Pika! _*Let's rock and roll!*"_ Pikachu cried out in agreement.

Brock and Misty exchanged looks of amusement and took their respective places at the Gym Leaders side of the field and off to the side.

Misty raised a hand into the air and spoke loudly "This will be a two on two battle between Ash the challenger and Brock the Gym Leader! The match will be decided when both of one sides Pokemon are unable to battle, or one side forfeits! Only the Challenger will be allowed to substitute Pokemon during the battle! You may begin when ready!"

"I assume you know what my first Pokemon is going to be. Are you going to start with Pidgeotto this time?" Brock asked. When Ash shook his head he gave a half-hearted shrug "Too bad, I was hoping to see you pull off one of your crazy wins despite the odds… though I guess that's still possible, all things considered. At any rate-Geodude, go!"

With the toss of a Pokeball, a floating rock with arms appeared on the battlefield. Geodude flexed impressively at Ash, calling out its name. Ash took a moment to just admire the sight of the rock type he hadn't seen since his last visit to the Cerulean Gym in the old timeline, and then pulled out one of his own pokeballs.

"I'm sure Pidgeotto could pull something off if we practised hard and came up with a strategy, but I already promised someone else a turn first. Butterfree, I choose you!" Ash called out, tossing the ball. Butterfree emerged a second later, flying in a circle around the room before settling down to hover a foot above the ground a few feet in front of Ash.

"Free _*Oh hey, it's match time. Let's go!*"_ Butterfree said, performing a similar dance routine as he had done against Samurai's Pinsir.

Brock at first seemed surprised by the sight of Butterfree, but realization quickly set in and he fondly watched the bug-type perform his dance, nodding along.

"Never thought I'd see Butterfree again, let alone in a Gym battle between us. Guess there's a few perks to this whole reboot thing" Brock admitted "... Not that I approve of re-writing reality of course, the sooner we fix this whole mess the better. But… ah, you know what I mean. Anyway, Geodude, get ready!"

The casual atmosphere in the Gym quickly faded away as a palpable sense of tension filled the air.

Ash and Brock exchanged fierce stares, watching each other carefully and waiting patiently for the other to make a move. Butterfree had stopped dancing and was hovering steadily above the ground, his body crouched forward in a position that would make it easier to quickly dash forward or dodge to the side depending on the commands Ash gave it, while Geodude had his hands extended into some kind of martial arts pose.

After a full minute of silence, Brock made the first move.

"Geodude, rock throw!"

Geodude raised both hands above his head, a series of large rocks rising up out of the ground behind the living stone. Ash narrowed his eyes as Geodude prepared to toss his arms forward.

"Butterfree, dodge and use sleep powder!"

Butterfree took off like a bullet, dodging to the left, right, up, down and up again as the barrage of rocks flew in his direction. Thankfully unlike with Pinsir, Butterfree was able to just barely slip past the final rock and began releasing a blue powder from his wings as he flew high over Geodude. Brock, however, seemed undeterred by this.

"Use Mud Sport!" Brock quickly ordered.

Wasting no time, Geodude put his hands down to the ground, mud forming in them that Geodude then began tossing into the air. The mud seemed to mix with Butterfree's sleep powder, cancelling out the attack as mud quickly began flying out all over the battlefield, some of it almost hitting Butterfree.

Ash stared around at the scattered mud in shock for a moment before giving Brock an approving smirk.

"Didn't think you could do that with mud sport" Ash said, and Brock chuckled.

"Just a little strategy I cooked up when training with Forrest a while back. I just asked myself, what would you do to counter moves like that?" Brock said. Ash grinned widely, but only for a few seconds before turning serious again.

"Butterfree, psybeam!"

Brock seemed to flinch at that command, flipping around to see Butterfree behind him, eyes beginning to glow purple.

"Dodge and use rock throw!"

Geodude managed to move a few feet to the left just in time to avoid the large beam of purple energy Butterfree fired in his direction, but before he could act on the second part of Brock's order Butterfree jerked his head and caused the beam to quickly change course, striking Geodude in the face and making him roll back several feet as the beam soon faded. Geodude shook off the attack, looking slightly dazed for an instant. But the lack of yellow birdies hovering around his head soon after made it clear it wasn't suffering from confusion.

Brock whistled, looking impressed.

"Well, that's new. Now, use rock throw, Geodude!"

Geodude raised his arms and summonded more rocks.

"Butterfree, circle around to dodge rock throw and use stun spore!"

Butterfree did as Ash commanded, flying quickly around the field and avoiding the rocks, though cutting it a lot more closely this time around. When the last stone had been thrown, Butterfree started releasing yellow spores and made a beeline for Geodude. Ash guessed that Brock would call for another mud sport, so his plan was to order Butterfree to cease using stun spore and fire off another pysbeam as quickly he he could, hoping to strike before Geodude had time to dodge.

"Use rollout to avoid it!"

Ash's jaw dropped as Geodude dropped down and began spinning in place, shooting forward right before Butterfree's cloud of stun spore reached him. Geodude circled round by the edge of the ring on Brock's end, and as it circled back in Butterfree's direction the living boulder used a conveniently slanted rock jutting out of the ground to propel himself into the air at Butterfree.

Ash briefly panicked, recognising there was no time for Butterfree to dodge so he instead hastily called out "Tackle it!"

Butterfree turned and smacked his head against the incoming Geodude. While this did have the effect of mitigating some of the impact of Geodude's flying rollout and sending the rock-type falling backwards, Butterfree was badly dazed by the attack and struggled to stay airborn.

Ash suddenly remembered he'd actually promised Butterfree he wouldn't make him tackle any of Brock's Pokemon, and made a mental note to apologize to him later.

"Got you now, Ash. Geodude, rock throw!" Brock commanded, and this time there was no time for the dazed Butterfree to react before the barrage of boulders struck him head on, sending the bug flying through the air and landing with a thud at Ash's feet. Off to the side Misty winced.

"Butterfree, are you okay?" Ash asked desperately, dropping to his knees to examine the shaking butterfly. Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and gave them space, glancing worriedly at his teammate.

Butterfree chirped unsteadily, his body trembling for a bit before he eventually got back onto his feet.

"… *Free* _Maybe_ _I_ _should have learned confusion instead…_ _I_ _could have caught Geodude before it hit me"_ Butterfree said, wings drooping as he stared shamefully at his feet "*Free, free* _Sorry, Ash,_ _I_ _just wanted to look cool…_ _I_ _don't think_ _I_ _can take another hit like that"_

"Its fine, Butterfree" Ash said, glancing at Geodude who was glaring at them from the other side of the battlefield. Ash grit his teeth "I'll… I'll think of something" He gave Brock a curious frown "Since when can Geodude use rollout?!"

"Since a week ago in this timeline. I had Geodude a bit longer this time around, so I had time to expand his move pool a little" Brock explained, crossing his arms proudly "Normally, I wouldn't have it use rollout on a trainer with no gym badges yet. But, since it's you, I thought I could make an exception. I did say I wasn't going to make it easy for you, didn't I?"

Ash sighed. He couldn't fault Brock for any of that, Ash wanted to beat him at his best… but still, what luck, right?

Butterfree shook his head and took flight again, clearly still in pain but too determined to let that slow him down.

Ash carefully examined his surroundings. The ground around the battlefield had an earthy texture, a lot different to the concrete near the entrance of the room and past Brock's side of the field. Definitely didn't look as solid. And while there were plenty of rocks and boulders about, mostly to the sides, none besides the rock on the far right side of the ring (From Ash's perspective) looked like they could be used for a repeat of Geodude's flying rollout maneuver.

Ash hummed thoughtfully. Getting an idea, Ash motioned for Butterfree to come closer so he could whisper instructions to the bug-type.

"*Free* _That sounds risky… but alright,_ _I think_ _I_ _have just enough energy to pull that off"_ Butterfree nodded.

"You don't have to do it if it's too much for you. You can always take a break and let Pikachu have a try" Ash said with some concern, but Butterfree shook his head aggressively.

"*Free* _No way! I can do it! Please let me try"_ Butterfree said pleadingly. Ash took a deep breath and nodded, giving Butterfree an encouraging smile. Butterfree gave a quick salute and flew forward back into the ring as Brock watched suspiciously.

"What did you just tell him?" Brock whispered to himself.

"Okay Butterfree, use Psybeam at full power on the ground! Zigzag over to Geodude!" Ash ordered. Brock's eyebrows shot up as Butterfree followed those instructions, blasting the ground right below him with a concentrated burst of psychic energy. The bug slowly craned his head left and right, directing the large energy beam back and forth from one end of the field to the other, Misty bouncing back instinctively when it neared the end of the ring she was standing behind.

Brock pursed his lips, looking baffled at Butterfree's tactic. He carefully observed the trajectory of the zigzagging psybeam and called out for Geodude to fall back and avoid it when it looked like the beam was finally heading his way… only for the psybeam to end up crashing into the rock Geodude had used to propel itself into the air two minutes ago, shattering it into many pieces.

The psybeam dissipated immediately after, and Butterfree began panting heavily. Brock and Misty began inspecting the battlefield in the wake of Butterfree's assault, while Geodude just looked perturbed.

"What the heck did you think that would accomplish, Ash?!" Misty wondered irritably.

Brock hummed thoughtfully, taking note of how deeply Butterfree's psybeam had cut into the ground on the battlefield. There now appeared to be a series of ruts at least a foot deep across it, and with a quick glance at the shattered pile of rocks not far to his left Brock stroked his chin as a lightbulb went off in his head.

"Ah, I get it. The ground's way too unsteady for Geodude to use rollout on it now, it would probably trip itself up" Brock said, nodding before checking on Butterfree. The purple butterfly's panting had lessened, but he still looked drained and worn down, which brought a confident smirk to the Gym Leader's face "Course, you realize that does nothing about Geodude's other attacks. Geodude, rock throw!"

Geodude raised his hands once more, readying another barrage of rocks. Ash clenched a fist.

"Okay Butterfree, close in on Geodude and dodge that attack!"

Misty blinked, watching in concern as Butterfree unsteadily flew forward 'You sure about that, Ash?'

Geodude launched rock throw, and Butterfree frowned determinedly as he began dodging the rocks. He just barely managed to maneuver through the first four out of five rocks tossed his way, but unfortunately the last one nicked the side of his left wing, sending him off balance.

"Butterfree!" Ash cried out. Brock grinned triumphantly.

"Finish it with tackle, Geodude!"

Geodude propelled himself towards the unsteady Butterfree. Ash's heart skipped a beat, but he recovered quickly and, mind going into overdrive, he then called out "Butterfree, kick off the ground and use stun spore!"

Butterfree staggered in mid air but managed to do as instructed, dropping down fast and landing briefly on a part of the ground he hadn't cut into with his earlier psybeam, a cloud of spores pouring out from his wings as Butterfree managed to leap over Geodude at the last possible second. Geodude came to a screeching halt seconds later, looking confused for a moment before the spores effect kick in. The rock grimaced and dropped to the ground.

Brock gaped at his Pokemon "What the-!"

"Psybeam, quick!"

Butterfree flipped around and blasted Geodude from behind with a psybeam. Not as large as any it had fired off earlier, but Geodude still cried out in pain and fully collapsed anyway. Butterfree lowered to the ground shortly after, heaving a heavy sigh and looking utterly exhausted.

Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty all stared in stunned silence at the scene before them. Misty eventually was the first to recover and raised her right hand "Geodude is unable to battle! This round goes to Butterfree!"

Ash let out a relieved sigh. He stared at Butterfree, noting the bugs' exhaustion. With a grateful smile, Ash pulled out his pokeball and returned the Pokemon.

"Thank you Butterfree. That was really amazing" Ash said kindly towards Butterfree's pokeball straight after "Take a good long rest, you deserve it"

Brock returned Geodude shortly after, looking at Ash with some bemusement "… So, was that your plan? Make it so Geodude couldn't use rollout to dodge again, and then hope Butterfree could dodge my next attack to paralyse Geodude?"

"Pretty much" Ash replied, scratching his head sheepishly "I didn't think it was going to work when that last rock hit him, but Butterfree really pulled through… I didn't think that Butterfree would be quite as worn down after using psybeam as he looked either, honestly. I also thought you might use mud sport again to stop the stun spore, but I hoped Butterfree could still get in one good psybeam while Geodude was doing that before I'd have to return him"

Brock nodded along to that explanation "I see. Risky move there, but it paid off. I was sure Butterfree had run out of steam after blasting the field so much, I didn't think he could still move as well as he did" Brock looked down at the deep gashes in the battlefield and frowned "… You do realize how long it's going to take to fix this up, right?"

Ash's response was a half-hearted shrug followed by a weak chuckle. Brock shook his head, his expression softening into one of amusement "Ah well, that stuff happens in a Gym. And what else should I expect battling you"

"I'm already dreading the damage my gym is going to suffer soon" Misty said, tepidly rubbing her forehead. Ash crossed his arms and shot her an indignant frown.

"You know I only ever seriously damaged one gym, and that was the one being run by Team Rocket. I'm not _that_ irresponsible" Ash snapped. Misty gave him an innocent smile, and Ash rolled his eyes and turned to Pikachu, who he gave an encouraging grin.

Pikachu grinned back "Chu * _Say no more*"_

And with that Pikachu jumped forward onto the battlefield, sparking his cheeks determinedly at Brock, who took a moment to revel in the nostalgic feelings this moment was inspiring in him before pulling out another pokeball and looking smugly at his gym challenger.

"For the record, the sprinkler system this time around is a little more advanced and less sensitive than before and resistant to lightning strikes, so don't even think about soaking Onix to win"

"Won't need it" Was Ash's simple response, which earned him a foreboding cackle from the gym leader.

"We'll just see about that... Onix, go!"

And with the toss of a ball and a flash of light, the enormous rock snake that had served as Ash's very first opponent in an official Gym Battle a lifetime ago appeared on the opposite side of the field from Pikachu, announcing it's presence with a deep, gravely roar.

Ash nodded approvingly, clenching a fist and getting pumped up.

"Pika! Pikachu! _*Aw yeah baby, I've been waiting_ _a_ _long time for this rematch! Not exactly the way I pictured this happening, but who cares, I'm still gonna win!"_

As was Pikachu, who was practically casting a thundershock with how much electricity was now pouring out of his cheeks.

"You may begin when ready!" Misty announced with raised hands.

"Onix, use rock throw!" Brock ordered.

Onix roared again as several rocks rose up around the great stone serpent.

"Dodge, and use iron tail on the last one!" Ash called. Brock raised his eyebrows briefly in surprise at the attack commanded, but seemed to accept it quickly, a look of "Of course he did" on his face.

Pikachu blitzed forward a second after Onix began launching it's rock throw. Though the little electric mouse wasn't as quick and fit as in his later stage of life, he was still pretty agile, and with his well honed instincts that no time reversal could take away Pikachu was able to expertly dodge every rock apart from the last one, which he used iron tail to send flying towards Onix's head.

"Tackle it back!" Brock called, and Onix headbutted the rock, splitting it into two (still quite large) pieces that went hurtling towards Pikachu, who just about managed to sidestep passed them as he kept running at Onix.

"Quick attack, then use iron tail!"

With the speed boost from the former attack, Pikachu was able to zoom in and deliver a powerful swipe of his glowing white tail to Onix's lower body before either Onix or Brock could make a move to counter it, carefully bouncing over the ruts still lining the battlefield left by Butterfree's psybeam so he didn't trip up of course.

The great snake grunted in pain, but seemed to grit it's nonexistent teeth through it, which it almost appeared like Brock was counting on since immediately after impact while Pikachu was just flicking back through the air he coolly ordered Onix to "Use mud slap!"

Ash and Pikachu's eyes both widened briefly, both of them sure Onix never knew how to use that attack in the old timeline. But it clearly wasn't a bluff or a misdirection, as Onix quickly opened it's mouth and spat a big wad of mud down at Pikachu.

Pikachu landed on his feet and managed to bounce forward to avoid the mud just a split second before it would have hit him, but Onix kept up the assault by firing three more rounds of the mud down at Pikachu. The yellow mouse managed to avoid the first two wads, but the third round of mud slap struck him right in the face, also knocking him flat on his back.

"Now use tackle!" Was Brock's follow up command.

Ash tried to call out for Pikachu to dodge the attack, but Pikachu wasn't able to rise to his feet in time, and Onix threw it's head to the ground and thrust it forward, crashing into Pikachu and sending the mouse flying into a large rock in the middle of the battlefield that Butterfree's psybeam had somehow just missed, landing in a rut with a loud thud.

Pikachu muttered a word Ash would never dare translate if his mother, Professor Burnet or Bonnie, Molly or Max were present, and probably would have given him pause if he wasn't firmly in battle mode.

"Now finish it with bind!" Brock commanded, prompting Onix to slither forward at great speed.

"Pikachu, counter with iron tail, then get out of the way!" Ash ordered hastily.

Shaking his head rapidly to clear his mind, Pikachu jumped up and slapped the tip of Onix's tail away right before it could grab him.

Pikachu spun around in mid air, and the second he landed on solid ground he jumped over the rut in front of him and made for cover behind another set of large rocks closer to Ash's side of the battlefield. Brock did order Onix to send a barrage of rock throw after him, but Pikachu managed to get behind the boulders in time to be shielded from the attack, though the rock throw did blast the top halves off said boulders.

Ash watched Pikachu wipe his face, clearing most of it away from the fur near his eyes but not all of it. Mud slap was a move that gradually lowered a targeted Pokemon's accuracy with each successive hit by making it harder for the Pokemon to see clearly. So on top of the fact it was super effective against electric types, that meant Pikachu really couldn't afford to keep getting hit by them or they'd be in big trouble.

Ash bit his lip as he glared at Onix with a calculative expression. The only attack Pikachu had that was very effective against the rock/ground type, super effective in fact, was iron tail. But Onix clearly had good endurance and quick reaction times, so he couldn't just wildly spam it and hope Onix would collapse from the barrage.

It would just risk repeated mud slaps, or worse, Onix managing to ensnare Pikachu with bind.

Ash thought quickly over a potential strategy. If only there was a reliable way to slow Onix down or subdue it so Pikachu could keep landing successive iron tails more safely.

But it wasn't like Pikachu had a move like Butterfree's stun spore that could paralyze Onix. The only attack it had that could cause paralysis on occasion was thundershock, which wouldn't have any effect on a ground type like Onix unless it was soaked in water. So it's not like Pikachu had a way to...

... wait.

Ash's eyes widened briefly, and his lips curled into a cocky grin as an idea formed in his mind.

Maybe Onix wasn't effected by electric _attacks..._ but what about a special ability?

"Onix, close in and use mud slap again!"

Ash was snapped back to the battle as Onix began slithering towards Pikachu's hiding spot. Pikachu grit his teeth, crouched down and looked to Ash for instruction, receiving a confident nod from the trainer.

"Pikachu, use quick attack on Onix over and over again from all sides! Avoid all attacks and keep hitting it until I tell you to stop!"

Brock and Misty gaped at Ash in disbelief over that tactic, and even Pikachu looked uncertain, but he nodded in compliance anyway, trusting his partner's instincts.

Jumping out from behind the rocks, Pikachu sped forward in a flash of white light, tackled his shoulder against Onix's side and then quickly leapt out of the rock types way.

Onix ground to a sudden halt and raised it's head up, looking down curiously as Pikachu suddenly zoomed in again from it's left and bumped against him before quick attacking towards a series of rocks, which the mouse ricochet off of before going in for another quick attack.

Pikachu repeated this process several times over, Onix attempting to swat the mouse away with his tail or hit it with a mud slap a few times but unable to land a hit with the lightning speed the quick attacks granted Pikachu.

Brock scratched his chin as he watched this routine, confused about what Ash's game plan was. Spamming quick attack wasn't exactly a bad idea against a lot of opponents in Pikachu's weight class, but Onix was a rock type and a giant compared to Pikachu. Any damage those attacks could be inflicting had to be absolutely minimal.

There had to be some sort of a catch, and Brock wasn't going to wait around too long to find out what it was.

"Onix, slam the ground with your tail as hard as you possibly can!"

Onix complied, and while the stone serpent obviously didn't know how to use earthquake, bulldoze or any other kind of ground shaking attacks, it's great weight combined with the sheer force in which it's tail struck the ground was enough to make the entire battlefield tremble anyway, and cause Pikachu to falter in the midst of his thirteenth quick attack and trip on one of Butterfree's ruts, landing on his face right in front of Onix.

"Chu! _*Oof!*"_

"Now bind!"

Onix roared as it swept it's tail towards Pikachu. Ash tried to call out for another iron tail counter, but there simply wasn't enough time for the mouse to react. And so seconds later, Pikachu was being held up and tightly constricted by Onix.

"Pikachu!" Called out a worried Ash, who grit his teeth and frantically tried to think of a counter measure.

"And that's the match" Brock said confidently, crossing his arms and watching calmly as Onix continued to squeeze Pikachu with it's bind attack.

"Pi... ka! _*This... all you got?*"_ Pikachu gasped, struggling weakly against the restraint of Onix's tail "Pika... chu! _*I've... been in... tighter... squeezes..._ gaaaahh!*"

Onix growled menacingly as he kept squeezing Pikachu... then abruptly loosened his grip to the point he was barely holding onto Pikachu and stared blankly into space.

Pikachu caught his breath quickly and blinked at Onix's face. Brock and Misty each raised an eyebrow in surprise at Onix's action, while Ash squinted his eyes at it before smirking triumphantly.

Onix kept staring blankly for a moment, then suddenly flinched and slammed it's eyes shut, looking uncomfortable. The reason why soon became clear as sparks began dancing all along it's great stone body.

Brock and Misty gasped in shock.

"Paralysis... how...?" Brock trailed off, a look of horrified realisation dawning on his face "Stacic! Oh no, I forgot!"

"Oh, don't feel too bad, Brock" Ash chuckled "To be fair, it doesn't seem to happen with us as much as it should"

Static was Pikachu's special ability, which occasionally caused Pokemon that experienced physical contact with Pikachu in a battle to become paralyzed.

It usually resulted from another Pokemon attacking Pikachu, but Ash had sometimes wondered if he could incite it by having Pikachu use physical attacks on a Pokemon, hence all the quick attacks.

Ash supposed he still didn't have a clear answer to that, as Onix could have incited static itself with it's bind attack and he couldn't be sure what did the trick. But either way, he was going to seize the opportunity.

"Iron tail Pikachu!"

Pikachu slipped out of Onix's grip while the great snake was distracted, jumped up and hit it in the face with iron tail. Onix cried out in pain before hitting the ground, Pikachu landing safely in front of him.

While Brock looked concerned and Misty mildly impressed, Ash ordered Pikachu to bombard Onix with repeated iron tails while they had the chance.

Pikachu struck Onix along multiple segments of it's body with his glowing tail in quick succession. Onix tried to get up and retaliate, but it's state of paralysis caused it to raise it's head slowly and sluggishly, and eventually even it's mighty defense proved insufficient against the many steel-type attacks and Onix's head hit the floor again. Not out for the count, but it would be soon if it couldn't get Pikachu's attacks to stop for just a moment.

Brock clenched a fist in frustration at the dire situation, and desperately called "Use mud slap twice!"

Onix managed to raise it's head only just enough to take aim at Pikachu, firing mud slap twice in quick succession. Pikachu saw the attack coming and was able to cancel out the first wad of mud with a swing of iron tail, but was left vulnerable to the second one which knocked it down.

Without prompting, Onix seized the quick distraction and swatted Pikachu away with it's tail, sending the electric mouse crashing into a boulder on the other side of the battlefield, hitting the ground with a nasty thud.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out in concern.

Pikachu muttered something unintelligible but which sounded very grumpy as he slowly pushed himself up onto his feet, clenching his teeth as he faced Onix with a weary, but still determined look.

Onix managed to rise again to full height to, but was equally battered and unsteady.

From opposite sides of the field Ash and Brock assessed the state's of both Pokemon, sweating nervously and panting slightly from the rush of adrenalin that had been pumping through them for the whole battle. They faced each other for a moment, eyes locked as Ash and Brock both stared each other down with fiery determination...

It only took five seconds for both old friends to burst out in hysterical laughter, unable to hold it back with the sheer fun they were having.

Misty glanced between the two chuckling trainers, snorting loudly and giving an endearing smile at their antics. Even Pikachu and Onix managed slight giggles despite themselves.

"I've gotta hand it to you, Ash... you always did know how to make a battle really exciting" Brock admitted after coming down from his laughing fit almost a minute later.

Ash smiled proudly, scratching his nose "Well, it helps to have an interesting opponent"

Ash and Brock chuckled a bit more over that, but the friendly banter ended as soon as it had begun and they both looked seriously at one another again before facing their respective Pokemon, who were having a more intense stare down.

A palpable tension filled the air again, as it was clear to both Gym Leader and challenger that the next attack to land, on either Pokemon, would decide the match.

Their minds already set, Ash and Brock wasted no time calling their attacks.

"Pikachu, use iron tail!"

"Mud slap, Onix"

Gritting his teeth through the pain in his torso, Pikachu sped forward, lighting up his tail as he dashed furiously towards Onix, who fired off two more rounds of mud slap at him. Pikachu just narrowly dodged the first round, and got his ears nicked by the second, but kept moving forward with a determined grunt.

Onix prepared to fire off mud slap a third time... and then sparks danced around it's body again, and the stone snake froze up.

"Oh no!" Brock gasped.

"NOW, PIKACHU!"

At Ash's command Pikachu leapt into the air with all his might, declaring his name loudly as he spun around several times before finally delivering a powerful slap to the left side of Onix's face with iron tail.

A deafening clang echoed out across the Gym, and Onix let out one last pained roar before collapsing to the ground.

Pikachu landed unsteadily on his hind legs a few feet back from Onix. He gasped and panted heavily, exhausted and bruised and clearly not up for much more, but he was still standing.

Onix, however, laid motionless on the ground. Misty took a few steps onto the battlefield to get a better look at it, and quickly determined that, indeed, it was not getting up again for a while. So with a quick nod and a satisfied smile, the red head raised her right hand into the air.

"Brock's Onix is unable to battle!" Misty announced, lowering her arm halfway to point at Ash "As both the Gym Leader's Pokemon are unable to continue, the winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum, of Pallet Town!"

Ash took a moment to fully register the results of the battle. And when he did his expression turned giddy and he leapt into the air, pumping his fist.

"We did it!"

"Pika! _*Heck_ yeah _we did!*"_ Pikachu cheered, raising his own fist. He promptly fell on his face, sighing deeply and letting exhaustion wash over him.

Ash ran up to check on Pikachu along with Misty, gently scooping the victorious mouse up and cradling him in his left arm and giving him some congratulatory head pats, he and Misty whispering praise that the little mouse reveled in.

Brock watched his friends silently from a distance at first, then breathed a satisfied sigh before pulling out Onix's pokeball.

"Good job, Onix. You were amazing" Brock said kindly as he returned Onix to his ball, proceeding to walk towards Ash and Misty. He pulled a small grey, boulder shaped badge out of one of his pockets, holding it out to his male friend "I believe it's customary for a Gym Leader to present one of these to successful challengers"

Ash nodded, gleefully thanking Brock as he took the badge and examined it closely, admiring the way he shined. He showed it off to Pikachu, who had the same twinkle in his eyes as Ash, before striking his iconic pose.

"I just got... a boulder badge!"

"Pi-Pikachu!"

Misty and Brock chuckled at that.

"It really is going to be just like old times, huh...?" Brock said, somewhat wistfully.

"Yup" Misty replied simply.

After Ash had come down from his post victory high, Brock tepidly asked "So, what now?"

Ash looked at Brock blankly for a moment, and after scratching his head he answered "Well... I guess right now we could fill you in on more stuff that's been going on... then I guess you should sort out anything you need to do here with your family, so we can get ready to really start our adventure"

"Uh-huh" Brock nodded, scratching his chin and looking thoughtful "Well then, in that case..."

* * *

**(Pewter City outskirts, not long after** **)**

The man with the red hat Pikachu had spotted earlier leaned back on the small boulder he was sitting on, half asleep. Shaking his head, he raised his hat slightly so he could rub his sealed eyes for a moment and then glanced at the wooden stands carrying rocks of various sizes. All of the rocks had price tags attached to them with utterly ludicrous amounts of money written down.

The man scratched his cheek and hummed quietly "… Maybe I should do a bargain sale or something. That might get business flowing… it'd be better than having to do a clearance sale, anyway…"

"Business is that bad, huh?"

"Yeah. It's concerning…" The man nodded weakly. After a moment of quiet contemplation his head shot up in surprise, and he turned to see Brock, Ash and Misty staring at him, the former with his arms crossed and with a stern look on his face while the latter two just stared curiously.

The man flinched, looking away quickly and trying to hide his eyes under his hat. A sideways glance to confirm Brock was still glaring at him shortly after however, he sighed in resignation and pulled off the hat, revealing a hairstyle that was exactly like Brock's.

"… So, how long did you know I was lurking around here?" Asked Flint as he removed the false beard.

"Not long. Although I had my suspicions that somebody was loitering around the Gym and stalking us for a few weeks now. I was thinking of calling the police" Brock said plainly.

Flint flinched, laughing nervously. Brock continued glaring at his father until the laughter ceased completely and the man averted his gaze from him, shuffling awkwardly. Brock gave a disapproving sigh.

"Look dad, long story short, these are some friends of mine. Ash and Misty. I've got some stuff I need to take care of and I want to go on a journey, and maybe study to become a Pokemon doctor while I'm at it" Brock started. Flint faced Ash and Misty, looking them over with a surprised expression. Ash and Pikachu waved awkwardly at him, while Misty gave Flint a glare to match Brock's to let him know she shared his impression of the man.

"I'm probably going to be gone a while. And as much as I don't trust you not to screw something up along the way, I'm also not about to put Forrest through the same kind of trouble you and mom kept putting me through, so I'm going to have to ask that you take some responsibility and actually raise your children for a while again. And mom too I guess, whenever she gets back from… whatever she's doing. Since you've been hanging around and spying on us, I'm guessing you're not opposed to that?" Brock asked, waving his hand expectantly.

Flint scratched his arm sheepishly and let out a tired sigh "Yeah… alright. I'll do it… honestly, I was never going to cut it as a big shot trainer or anything anyway, so I was going to come back eventually. Just wasn't sure how to do it without it being awkward…"

"Coward" Brock muttered, shaking his head. He turned around and started to walk back in the direction of Pewter City "If you want you can have dinner at home with the rest of us when you're done packing up here, but you're cooking for yourself"

Flint face faulted, miserably twirling his fingers together "Ah, son… you don't have to be that harsh…"

"Seriously" Misty grumbled, giving the man a bewildered look before following after Brock along with Ash and Pikachu. Flint watched after them until they were specks in the distance, then glanced at his assortment of rocks.

"Well, guess I'm having a clearance sale after all, then…"

* * *

_***Brock's house, April 5th, 7.30pm*** _

Misty struggled to hold back a loud, satisfied belch after finishing the meal Brock had cooked for her. She quietly excused herself from the dining table and made for the bathroom to let it out, stroking her head in relief that she hadn't embarrassed herself in front of Brock's whole family.

Ash had had no reservations about that, but Ash never did fully grasp the concept of table manners.

Following Brock's brief talk with his father earlier, Misty, Ash and Pikachu had followed Brock back to his family's home, Forrest having brought all eight of his and Brock's other brothers and sisters there in the time since their group had left the Gym.

Brock had then proceeded to introduce Misty and Ash to all of his siblings in turn. Misty was actually glad to get a chance to familiarize herself with them all.

In the time since Brock's return to Kanto following his and Ash's Sinnoh adventures in the old timeline Misty had visited Pewter City several times to meet up with Brock when neither of them were too busy. She was well acquainted with Forrest, the second oldest sibling who had taken over the Pewter Gym as its new leader a few years before the Beyonder broke the world, but Misty had never actually gotten much time to meet all eight of the younger siblings individually and only really remembered half of their names.

Hopefully she wouldn't forget them all again anyway. She, Ash and Brock probably weren't going to be visiting all that often.

Misty noted that all of Brock's siblings looked appropriately older this time around, like her, Ash and Brock. Expect, strangely, for the two twins who were the youngest siblings, Billy and Tilly. They didn't seem the slightest bit taller than the first time she'd briefly seen them when Ash had originally challenged Brock the last time around. She supposed Flint and Lola just took longer to have them for some reason.

Misty had quickly asked Brock how old Forrest at least was when she had briefly found herself alone with him in the kitchen a half hour ago. Fifteen, apparently, the same age Brock had originally been when she and Ash met him. So not at an age where he could become a Pokemon trainer in this reality just yet, but he could always take over the Pewter Gym again by the time Ash challenged the Battle Frontier.

Misty hadn't had a chance to ask about the rest of Brock's brothers and sisters' ages, because little Tilly had run into the kitchen and cried to Brock about how her favourite Nosepass doll, Mr Pointy-face, had fallen off the living room table and how she desperately needed Brock to bandage his "Boo-boo's".

Misty had to admit it was pretty adorable how Brock had gotten to his knees, gently comforted his youngest sister and took to the issue of tending to the dolls imaginary wounds with complete seriousness.

Misty's sisters were hardly without their kind or generous moments, but she couldn't imagine Violet or Lily especially in either reality going out of their way to play along and comfort her if she'd behaved like Tilly at her age. Probably current reality Daisy, and maybe the old reality one on a very good day, if Misty were lucky.

Misty knew it was wrong that Brock had had the responsibility of being his siblings' guardian for a while thrust on his shoulders and she found the way Flint and Lola took off and shirked on their parental responsibilities utterly shameful and slap-worthy. But she still had to envy how all of those kids had still won the "Supportive older sibling" jackpot with Brock.

And it was clear all of Brock's siblings appreciated and loved him very much, because when Brock had tepidly announced earlier that their father would be coming home to look after them all again and that Brock would have to go away for a while on an important journey, all nine of his brothers and sisters had been distraught and begged him over and over to stay.

Forrest had been the first to accept it and wish Brock well on persuing his ambitions, and thankfully didn't pry into why else he might be leaving, even promising to do his part to look after everyone while he was gone. Though Brock had stressed that Forrest not push himself and take on too much responsibility, and he should just focus on making sure their dad lived up to his.

Everyone else took upwards of an hour to get over Brock's upcoming departure, and they were all clearly still upset about it even when Brock promised to call regularly and visit whenever he could. Needless to say, Ash, Brock and Misty wouldn't be leaving first thing tomorrow morning, maybe not even until the following day.

Following that depressing moment, Ash and Misty had spent most of their time before dinner sitting around the dining room table just talking to all of Brock's siblings, learning a few things about them like how Forrest did indeed want to help out at the Gym in some way once he got his trainer's license, that Billy and Tilly's favourite Pokemon was Brock's Onix and their dream was to pet every rock type Pokemon in the world, and how Brock's oldest little sister Yolanda (who in this life wore an outfit that Ash would later comment reminded him of Professor Cerise's daughter Chloe's school uniform with pink hearts where the anchor symbols on Chloe's would be) wanted to be a champion of the Pokeathlon someday and show the world how "Totally awesome and top-tier" Rock type Pokemon were.

Another thing to note about Yolanda: At one point, Ash had randomly asked whether a blond haired guy with a Pokemon called a Lycanroc had shown up to challenge the gym, and Yolanda's sealed eyes turned into hearts as she leapt up on the table, began making the same kind of gestures Brock performed whenever he caught sight of a nurse Joy or officer Jenny, and then went into a dramatic speech about how dreamy that boy had been, how he was a total teenage heartthrob and declaring how much her heart ached that she had missed her chance to ask for his hand in marriage.

Yolanda's siblings had all just stared at her with neutral expressions throughout, while Misty, Pikachu and Ash gaped at her in disbelief, the latter eventually joking that she was the "Brockiest" of all of Brock's younger siblings. Misty herself just let out a resigned sigh and had to fight the urge to pull Yolanda by the ear the way she typically had to do with Brock. She wasn't sure if that would count as child abuse in this case.

Ash also asked Misty what a heartthrob was, but Misty just stared oddly at Ash and told him she'd explain later.

Funnily enough, Yolanda later had a similarly dramatic and amourous reaction to Forrest's mention of meeting a cute girl that had just moved to Pewter City from Azalea Town at the Pokemon School he went to, so evidently it wasn't just boys she was crazy about. That prompted Ash to summize that she was "Even Brockier than Brock" which got a good laugh out of everyone in the room except Yolanda, who got very huffy at Ash and told him very firmly that he WASN'T dreamy and that she couldn't imagine any girl finding him attractive.

Misty was very glad Ash was too taken aback by that response to notice her nervous chuckling.

Eventually Brock came into the dining room and started laying out plates of food for everyone. After two and a half days of having to make food for themselves (Misty was very glad Ash had learned to cook somewhat in Alola, but the meals he'd prepared in the forest left a lot to be desired... still a lot more edible than anything she could cook though, as much as she'd hate to admit it), Misty and Ash took great pleasure in savouring every last bite of Brock's cooking.

Pikachu and Pidgeotto had already wolfed down two entire bowls each of Brock's special Pokemon food before their trainer had even started, and Ash lamented having to leave Butterfree at the Pokemon center on the way to the house because he wouldn't also get to enjoy the grub (He would have left Pikachu if he weren't so insistent on tagging along, but Ash would be spending the night at the center to get him treated anyway).

Flint had actually arrived and entered the dining room while everyone was eating. Half of his children barely reacted at all to his presence, the other half gave him a half-hearted "Hey" and then continued eating, while Brock simply told Flint the kitchen was all his. Flint had awkwardly chuckled and attempted to make small talk for a minute before quietly slipping out of the room.

After washing her hands and leaving the bathroom to rejoin Ash, Brock and his siblings, Misty took a quick peek into the kitchen and noticed Flint struggling a lot with his attempts to cook, even somehow setting a saucepan on fire by the looks of it. Misty grimaced at the sight, wondering if she should do something when Brock suddenly appeared at her side, startling her slightly as he raised his voice.

"He'll be fine" Brock insisted, shaking his head "There's a fire extinguisher under the sink. Thankfully mom's a decent cook at least, so everyone should be able to get by on takeout until she gets back. Anyway, would you mind if I talked to you in private for a moment, Misty?"

"Uh…" Misty hesitated, watching with some trepidation as Flint pulled out the fire extinguisher Brock spoke of and began spraying foam over the saucepan "… Okay, sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing much…" Brock said slowly, scratching his head and looking uncomfortable "… I just… I dunno, I… ah, forget it, it's nothing. I don't want to trouble you…"

Misty raised an eyebrow, carefully examining the expression on Brock's face. A knowing smile appeared on her face.

"I'm not a therapist, but I don't mind listening" Misty said kindly, catching Brock by surprise "You're always there to listen and try and help out with everyone else's problems. You don't have to feel guilty asking us to do the same for you once in a while"

There was a pregnant pause after that declaration. Eventually Brock lightly smacked the side of his head and shot Misty a grateful smile. The two old friends exchanged knowing nods, and Misty followed Brock to his room, closing the door behind them.

Brock wandered into the center of the room, rubbing the sides of his head and taking a deep breath. He stared silently at Misty for a full minute, put a hand thoughtfully to his chin and stared upwards, looking like he was struggling to think of a good way to start vocalizing his thoughts. Eventually he just seemed to give up and moved over to his bed, flopping down hard and burying his face in the pillow with a loud, heavy sigh.

Misty gave Brock a worried frown and made to grab a chair by a desk that held a personal computer, which she moved next to Brock's bed. Before sitting down Misty took a good look around the room. A pretty normal, unremarkable bedroom other than it looked incredibly neat and tidy, not even so much as a speck of dust on anything.

Misty was actually a bit surprised by the lack of posters of Nurse Joy's and Officer Jenny's, or any other pretty girls in bikinis for that matter.

She wondered for a moment if she should give Brock credit for his restraint… or if the contents of the walls would be very different if he didn't have to consider the possibility of one of his brothers or sisters randomly barging into the room at any moment.

At any rate, Misty took a seat and watched as Brock shifted around on his bed, flipping onto his back and staring at the ceiling in contemplation. Misty cleared her throat to get Brock's attention and waved her hand expectantly. Brock gave her a nod and stared back up at the ceiling.

"So, how long did it take for you to stop feeling like you were holding back a panic attack?" Brock asked casually. Misty blinked at him, laughing mirthlessly.

"Not long, really" Misty said, following Brock's upwards gaze with a distant look in her eyes "Although I keep laying awake for hours at night before going to sleep. And every dream I've had since has had something to do with reality falling apart around us and reforming into something really stupid. Last night we were all pirates fighting robot Mankeys in space"

Brock chuckled weakly "Sounds like an anime Tommy and I used to watch together. Don't ask which life, I'm still struggling to accept he's ten when he should be six at this point, and was eleven last I thought about it… except, not really, because last I checked he was also ten… I dunno, it makes no sense either way"

"Are you still having a panic attack?" Misty asked cautiously. Brock pursed his lips and frowned thoughtfully, eventually shaking his head.

"Nah. Between us leaving the Gym and giving Mr Pointy-face first aid I was sure it was going to happen, but I think I'm good now" Brock answered. Following a brief hesitation, he elaborated "… For now, anyway. Honestly, I'm mostly numb to it all at the moment. It's just… you'd think that after seeing the gods of time and space duking it out and nearly erasing a whole town from existence in the process, nothing would ever surprise you anymore, but… somehow, life just keeps finding creative new ways to screw with you"

Misty fiddled with the straps between her shirt and shorts, looking away from Brock for a few seconds before turning back to him "I can't really imagine what that was like, but I saw my share of madness travelling with you, Ash and Tracey. It gets pretty overwhelming. There's no shame, having trouble just… comprehending that the whole world just got retconned"

"I'm not ashamed of that" Brock said simply. Misty shook her head.

"Right, sorry, maybe that's the wrong way to put it. I guess-"

"I get what you mean, don't worry" Brock cut her off "I just… I'll get over it. I'm not cracking up, or feel like crying or anything. It's just… difficult. Give it a few days and I should be fine, I can get used to this reality. At least I know we can fix it. It's just another crazy adventure, Ash will save the day and everything will go back to normal until the next one, just like always…"

Brock fell silent for a long time after that, Misty watching him apprehensively and wishing he would continue, not sure what to say herself. Eventually Brock got up out of bed, cracked his neck and did some light stretching, and then sat down on the bed so he was facing towards Misty.

Misty took the ten seconds before he spoke up again to note that as much as she and Ash's new appropriately teenaged bodies were more mature and developed than the bodies they had before the big cosmic retcon, adult Brock was REALLY tall and well built, even taller in comparison to her than he'd ever been in the old timeline considering how he had to look down to meet her gaze while they were sitting at an even level.

He wasn't Lt. Surge or anything, but Brock had outgrown most of the adults Misty regularly interacted with.

"… You know…" Brock began. Misty shook her head, snapping back to attention "… Do you ever feel like you exist mostly in the service of other people?"

Misty cocked her head, thinking long and hard over that question. To be honest, she never thought of herself that way.

Sure, on some of her and Ash's adventures she felt like a third wheel. There were plenty of random people she and her friends had dropped everything they were doing to help over the years too, so no one could tell Misty she wasn't generous and helpful. But she did have ambitions and worked towards them, even if slowly.

She always felt overshadowed by her older sisters when she was younger, but not in the sense that she existed for their benefit. More that she just had a lot to prove to people, herself included.

Misty had certainly felt like she was becoming reliant on Ash and Brock by the time she'd taken over as the Cerulean Gym Leader, but she liked to think she'd grown a lot and become fully self-reliant in the years since.

So no, Misty didn't think she exited just for the sake of other people.

"Not really" Misty admitted honestly, putting her hands together and looking imploringly at Brock "Is that how you feel, though?"

There was a lengthy silence.

"… Sometimes, yeah" Brock sighed, shrugging meekly "You know… I spent so much of my time in both lives I've lived taking care of my brothers and sisters. I love them all, and I feel proud to say I probably did a better job than a lot of people could have expected of me… but it always frustrated me. Not just my parents being stupid and dumping everything on me, but for half of my life I never had time to focus on myself and any of the stuff I wanted to do"

Brock smiled fondly "Honestly, when dad came home and gave me the chance to travel with Ash, I was ecstatic. Finally, I could just take a break from everything, go out into the world, make some friends. Focus on myself and becoming a breeder like I always wanted. I had the time of my life, exploring Kanto and Johto with you two. And then Hoenn and Kanto again with May and Max. And Sinnoh with Dawn. For all the near death experiences, the evil teams trying to destroy the world, the Legendary Pokemon stuff and all that, there were just so many fun times we had together. I met so many interesting Pokemon, a lot of cute girls… and through it all, I feel like I really learned a lot about myself. I really wouldn't trade the time I spent with Ash for anything…"

Brock looked away from Misty and stared silently into space for a long time.

"… Although…" He hesitated some more "… For a while there towards the end… I feel like it got to a point where I was kinda spinning my wheels, not really growing as a trainer or a breeder. It didn't fully hit me until the Lily of the Valley Conference, but while you, May, Dawn and Ash all looked like you were really progressing with your goals, moving ahead in life… I was stagnant. I caught some new Pokemon here or there, sure, but it was starting to feel like my whole purpose on that journey was to help look after and support the rest of you, and that was it"

Brock sighed, shaking his head and turning back to Misty with a smile that made the girl feel uneasy "It was kinda like I was right back where I started, you know? I loved travelling around with Ash, but… the whole point of going on that journey with you guys was to take some time to learn more about myself and Pokemon… I guess the second part held up at least, with all the unique Pokemon we ran into. But did I really want to just keep being the guy that cooked and cleaned for people forever?"

"I got the idea to train to be a Pokemon Doctor soon after that, and so I parted ways with Ash… it was sad to say goodbye, and I guess for a while I did miss the sense of adventure, sure… but I felt good about myself" Brock's smile became more genuine as he said that "For the next few years, I studied hard, got some training from the Nurse Joy in Pewter City, I even eventually got accepted into a course that would have put me on the path to officially becoming a Doctor in the next four years if I gave it everything I had. It was great. Finally, I felt like I was really living for myself, moving forward like the rest of you, towards making a difference in the world by myself, and not just by propping up Ash and helping the rest of my friends save the world from whatever crisis was happening this month…"

All emotion seemed to fade from Brock's face as he trailed off, staring distantly at Misty, who looked back at him with a weak smile.

"… And wouldn't you know it. Now I'm right back where I started, about to go on a journey with Ash and help support him on a quest to save the world" Brock chuckled mirthlessly, shrugging at Misty "All that time I spent working towards becoming a doctor, finally making some progress towards a great career for myself… and now all of that's gonna be put on hold for a couple of years, because some guy with a weird name decided to mess with reality"

Brock heaved a bitter sigh and looked down at the ground again, putting his hands against the side of his bed and gripping tightly against the sheets "Perfectly sums up my lot in life, doesn't it?"

Misty clenched her teeth and turned away, unable to think of anything useful to say in response to that. An awkward mood filled the room as Misty and Brock sat motionless across from one another, silently dwelling on the nonsensical state of reality.

After what felt like an eternity of procrastination, Misty shook her head and let out an aggravated grunt before leaning forward to put a hand on Brock's right shoulder. Brock slowly leaned his head to look at it before turning to face Misty again, who met his gaze with a sympathetic but tough look in her eyes.

"Look… I don't know what I'm supposed to say in this situation. Or if there's anything helpful I actually can say right now" Misty said plainly. Brock raised an eyebrow as she continued "You're right… this whole situation is a load of nonsense. It's not fair at all that we have to get dragged into stuff like this all the time, and you definitely deserve a break to finish your training to be a doctor. It sucks that we have to drop everything to save the world"

Misty paused for a few seconds, then half-heartedly shrugged her shoulders "That's life though, I guess. It never makes sense or goes the way we want it to all the time. For us and Ash's other friends it's especially crazy. But trust me… this will all blow over eventually"

Brock furrowed his brow, staring at Misty curiously. She gave him an awkward grin "This stuff happens to us all the time, but Ash always saves the day in the end and we go right back to whatever we were doing before. Yeah sure, I guess it's easy to get tired of it all after a while… but the routine part of it tells me we'll pull through whatever happens"

"And maybe we'll have to go on another crazy adventure in the future" Misty waved her hand casually "And maybe a year or two later we'll have another one after that… but by that point you'll probably be a doctor for real. And then you'll be moving onto something new. It sucks now, having to put your dreams on hold… but this sort of thing happens to a lot of people-not the saving the world part, I mean, just… life throws crazy stuff at you and you have to wait it out for a while. It's never fair, to anyone, it would be great if life was never difficult and everyone could just do what they want all the time. But…"

Misty hesitated for a moment, stumped on how to continue. Noticing this, Brock continued for her "… But it just isn't like that?"

Misty clapped her hands and smiled sheepishly, an awkward chuckle escaping her lips "Yeah. Guess there's no fancier way to put it. Life isn't fair… but the way I see it, you can either mope about it, or power through the hard times and work towards building something good for yourself bit by bit…"

She trailed off, biting her lip.

"… Look, I'm just paraphrasing self-help stuff I've heard on TV at this point. Like I said, I'm not a therapist, I can't completely relate to or understand just how frustrating this all is for you…" Misty sighed, narrowing her eyes at Brock "You do deserve better. It's not fair you need to wait around so long to keep persuing your own goals… but you will get there eventually. And for what it's worth… we all appreciate all the help you give, the good things you do for your friends and family… but we don't see you as a servant. It's not fair that life seems to treat you like one so much… but I'm sure it won't always be like that"

"Misty…" Brock began, but whatever else he seemed to want to say appeared to get stuck in his throat. After waiting half a minute to give him a chance to continue, Misty put on a genuine smile and clenched the hand that was still on Brock's shoulder.

"We WILL pull through this… it may take a while, I can't promise something like this won't happen again… it most likely will, knowing us… but we'll power through together whatever happens. And you WILL be a Pokemon Doctor!" Misty said forcefully, a fire in her eyes as she grinned proudly at her friend "You'll be a great doctor. You'll find a woman that likes you back. You'll make a great life for yourself-as your own man!"

Brock's eyes threatened to open up slightly as his face lit up. His lip quivered a bit and he let out a chuckle "You think so, huh?"

"I'm sure of it" Misty nodded "I know that might be hard to believe right now, given… everything. But you're smart, dedicated and resourceful. I know for a fact you can make it as a doctor, just like I know Ash will pull us through this whole world saving thing before you know it"

Brock leaned back on his bed and looked up at the ceiling once more. Again his expression was thoughtful, but a lot more serene than he'd looked since they'd entered the bedroom, which eased Misty's own anxieties a lot. Misty watched Brock take a series of steady, calming breaths before rising to his feet, walking past her and doing some more stretches.

Misty chuckled at the sight of it before getting up and returning the chair she had been using to it's rightful place beneath the desk with Brock's computer.

"I take it you're feeling a little less "Woe is me" now?" Misty asked cheerfully. Brock scratched his head and snickered at her.

"I'm not over my issues one bit. It's gonna take a lot of time for my mind to settle and get used to this whole situation" Brock said plainly. He stopped scratching his head and started rubbing it instead, shooting Misty a grateful grin and nodding towards her "... But yeah, what you said, and just getting to vent all that frustration... that helps a little. This whole time reboot thing is stupid... but I believe in Ash too. I guess moping about it won't do me any good, so... yeah. For now maybe let's just call it a night, and tomorrow we can get down to business"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Misty nodded. Brock grinned at her, then suddenly looked curious and started scratching his chin. The cheeky grin that spread across Brock's face shortly after caused Misty to narrow her eyes at him suspiciously.

"So... I WILL find a woman who loves me back, huh?" Brock said, chuckling excitedly. Misty groaned internally "Were any of your sister's dating anyone before time was reset then? Maybe I could ask one of them out when we reach Cerulean City as practice for when we get back to our timeline, then. Heh heh"

Misty's eyes twitched and she clenched both her fists. She gave Brock a sarcastic smile and leaned her head forward "Try it with Lily and Violet if you must, but make too much of a clown out of yourself and I'll smack you with their Seel"

Brock giggled deviously, holding up his hands and shaking them in mock concern "Heh... you're too easy, you know that?"

Misty glared dangerously at Brock, who stared back at her with a look of almost boastful calmness. The duo's expressions remained frozen like that for a good ten seconds, before their lips began to quiver and the two old friends broke out in a round of hysterical laughter.

"... Circumstances aside..." Misty said quietly after calming down "... It's gonna be nice getting to really travel with you guys again"

Brock shook his head and chuckled some more "Yeah... I guess I'd be lying if I said there's _nothing_ fun about the idea"

After exchanging one last friendly smile, Misty and Brock quietly left the bedroom and rejoined the rest of Brock's family and Ash at the dining table.

Misty felt pretty good about herself for that little pep talk, it worked a lot better than she could have expected. Though then again, it was Brock she was talking to, he was always an optimistic guy and the most mature of their little group, so it wouldn't have been like him to be hung up about his problems for too long.

Misty didn't really pay close attention to what Ash and Brock started talking about after they had sat down, her thoughts turning to her own circumstances. She'd said to Brock that she couldn't fully relate to his frustrations with having his personal goals put on hold, but really now that she actually took the time to think about it, it did bother her that all the progress she'd made as a trainer had been temporarily erased.

One moment she was getting ready to challenge Nessa for the honorary title of "Strongest Water-type Gym Leader in the world"... and now she was a rookie with no real accomplishments to her name all of a sudden.

It was rather annoying, and another entry for the growing list of things she'd like to slap that Beyonder guy over. But she wasn't going to angst about it right now, she'd feel like a huge hypocrite if she did after that pep talk.

As she and Brock both agreed, Ash was probably going to save the world in the end. Their lives would keep moving forward sooner or later. So maybe for the meantime, Misty could just focus on polishing off her skills, expanding her horizons through further travels with her friends and come out of this experience as a better water Pokemon trainer than ever.

First step towards that, of course, would be to make sure she gave Ash an even better and more challenging Gym battle than Brock had just given him. And Misty already had a few ideas for just how she would do it.


	7. The Journey (Re)Starts Today

_***Pewter** **City** **Pokemon Center, Apri** **5th,** **8.35pm***_

Shortly after Misty and Brock's little heart to heart talk, Ash, Misty and Pikachu departed from Brock's house to spend the night at the Pokemon Center, Brock promising to meet up with them in the morning and insisting he'd "Have everything all mapped out"

Brock didn't really elaborate on that point before bidding his friends goodbye and closing the door on them, and Ash and Misty just decided to wait and ask him about it in the morning.

Once at the Pokemon Center, Ash left Pikachu in the care of Nurse Joy and then took a seat along with Misty by the nearest available PC, deciding they might as well take a look at a few more of those articles Professor Oak had sent Ash.

Ash did briefly consider calling the Professor himself, or his mother since it only now occurred to him that he'd forgotten to do either of those things during his last trip to the Center earlier in the afternoon, but decided it would probably be better to just do that in the morning. Professor Oak did say to call again when Brock was with him and Misty, after all.

Ash felt embarrassed over it, but got over himself pretty quickly and opened the previous email from the Professor. The first link after the one they'd left off on caught his and Misty's attention as Professor Oak had wrote the words "Brace yourself for this one" right under the link.

"Wow. After alien supervillains that live on the moon and goofy-looking superheroes in weird outfits, this must be something either REALLY stupid and weird, or really horrible if Professor Oak thinks this is going to shock us or something" Misty quipped, leaning past Ash to stare at the screen.

Ash groaned "I'm tempted to just not read it, but that probably wouldn't be very responsible of me, would it?" He said sarcastically. Ash shook his head and clicked the link.

Ash and Misty stared at the screen as the new webpage loaded up with bated breath. When the page became clear, they both squinted their eyes for a moment, and after it registered what it was they were seeing their eyes widened and they let out loud, piercing gasps that caused the few trainers still loitering in the lobby of the Center to briefly stare in their direction with raised eyebrows.

It looked like some kind of a News article, with a Picture of an intimidating Green-haired woman with cold, steely eyes partially obscured by shadows prominently displayed beneath the headline "Prison Break! Dangerous Ex-Gym leader at large!"

Ash and Misty fell deathly silent and gaped at the picture in the article, horrified expressions slowly forming on their faces. They both recognised the woman in the picture. She was Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City.

Ash wordlessly scrolled down to start reading the article.

_"The good citizens of Saffron City and its surrounding settlements were sent into panic Yesterday evening when the City's local Officer Jenny made the announcement that a highly dangerous superhuman criminal had escaped from police custody earlier that same day._

_No explanation was given for how Sabrina, the super villainous former Gym Leader of Saffron, managed to escape from the high security prison where she had been sent to serve a thirty year prison sentence for assaulting and terrorizing many Gym Challengers and random citizens of Saffron._

_According to Officer Jenny, Prison staff along with the Saffron City Mystic Arts Investigation unit were baffled to find that Sabrina had simply disappeared from her cell at some time around noon, the Psychic dampening collar and bracelets the prisoner had been forced to wear left lying on the floor._

_While an investigation is said to be underway, the Police have no current leads as to Sabrina's whereabouts, though Officer Jenny emphasized that all citizens of Saffron, Celadon, Vermilion and Cerulean Cities, in addition to other nearby towns and Villages like Lavender Town as well as all trainers and other citizens passing through Central Kanto should be on guard at all times until the escaped prisoner is found and re-captured._

_Most of our regular readers are no doubt familiar with the story of Saffron city's most infamous Gym Leader, the Psychic-type master Sabrina. But for those living under a rock for most of the past year, we'll be glad to give you an update._

_Sabrina was the daughter of Saffron's previous Gym Leader, and succeeded him as Gym Leader roughly a year and a half ago as of this writing. As a child, she was hailed as a prodigy, gifted with extraordinary Psychic powers believed to be on par with a well trained Alakazam._

_Human beings with psychic powers are not an undocumented phenomenon. Though very rare, people with the ability to levitate objects through sheer force of will or read the minds of others can be encountered throughout every region of the world of Pokemon. But Sabrina of Saffron City's potential went beyond anything previously documented._

_Many stories have been told by Sabrina's mother and family friends of Sabrina levitating entire rooms worth of furniture from the age of five, her mother even claiming that she had once bent her father's car into a pretzel shape once when she was seven years old because he would not allow Sabrina to watch her favourite cartoon while she was grounded. By the age of thirteen, Sabrina's powers had evolved to being able to cast illusions and take control over the minds of Pokemon to force them to do her bidding._

_Following the mysterious disappearance of her father, which Sabrina's mother recently came forward with the belief that their daughter was in some way responsible for, the Psychic sorcerous took over Saffron Gym as it's fifteenth Gym Leader, becoming the tenth member of her family to run the renowned Psychic Type Gym that often ranks highly within the Top 8 most challenging Pokemon Gyms of the Kanto region in yearly Official Pokemon League Polls._

_Sabrina's tenure as Saffron's Gym Leader proved highly controversial. Though a powerful and challenging leader, with only three challengers reportedly earning a Gym Badge against her in the first six months of her tenure, Gym Challengers frequently reported that Sabrina was, to quote one such trainer who preferred not to be named in this story, "Bloody Terrifying"._

_Many found Sabrina's cold personality, ruthless battling style and a reported penchant for reading her opponents' minds and taunting them over their personal fears and insecurities upon defeat to be highly unnerving. Several Gym Inspection Agents had actually been sent to the Saffron Gym to confront Sabrina about reported emotional abuse of her challengers and illegal misuse of her powers, but they all seemed to report back to the League that nothing was wrong and that Sabrina's actions were exaggerated, and that she had been acting well within her boundaries as Gym leader._

_It would later be uncovered that all of these inspectors had suffered varying degrees of brain washing by Sabrina._

_In more recent months, reports started coming out of Sabrina upping the ante by using her illusionary powers to taunt and harass challengers she didn't seem to like or behaved rudely to her, and several trainers had even gone missing after going to challenge her Gym, along with several undercover police officers investigating the Gym and several members of the local Karate Dojo that neighbours the Saffron Gym. It was later discovered that these poor souls had all been somehow transformed into dolls by Sabrina._

_In response to growing concerns from citizens, higher ups of the Kanto Pokemon League along with International League Chairman Mr Goodshow voted unanimously to have Sabrina forcibly removed from her position as Saffron's Gym Leader and brought to court to account for the rising number of reports of her wrong doings. The League had planned to have Lance, leader of the Kanto-Johto Elite 4 and a prestigious member of the G-men, go to the Saffron Gym and apprehend the tyrannical Gym Leader._

_However, this proved unnecessary, as before this plan could be acted on Sabrina was swiftly brought down by another giant in the world of Pokemon training._

_28 time winner of the Pokemon World Championships Scrooge McDuck, owner of Silph Co. and Saffron's most prestigious citizen of the past eighteen years, and a man who has vast experience in dealing with supernatural threats and super villains including the infamous dark sorceress Magica De Spell, had caught wind of the rumours behind his city's Gym leader and conducted his own personal investigation of the Saffron Gym._

_A fight apparently broke out when Sabrina caught Scrooge and his assistant Mrs Beakley snooping around in the room where she kept the dolls created from her many victims, and thankfully our dear World Champion was able to easily overpower the Psychic Gym Leader with the help of his trusty Mr Rime._

_An unconscious Sabrina was later that day dumped in a cell at the Saffron Police station and equipped with a specially made collar designed by McDuck's cousin, the G-men's top scientist Professor Ludwig Von Drake, to suppress psychic powers. Sabrina would be left in prison to await further trial, while her victims that had been transformed into dolls would be restored a week later through a spell cast by Sir Merlin Prower, the Court Wizard of the Kingdom of Knothole and an old acquaintance of Mr McDuck._

_A thrilling story, I'm sure many of you readers are thinking, if by now you've forgotten the headline. But the reason we've told you all this is to remind the dear public just how dangerous miss Sabrina truly is, what she's capable of and why it's a pretty big deal she's now on the loose._

_The Police advise that the general populace should remain calm, but keep watch and report any and all sightings of the rogue former Gym Leader immediately, either to the police or anyone associated with the Pokemon League. The Officer Jenny of Saffron City has also stressed that no trainer or random citizen should engage with Sabrina or try to apprehend her on their own, lest they risk losing their lives or suffer the traumatizing existential nightmare of become one of her inanimate play things. Much as many people like to think highly of themselves, we can't all be Scrooge McDuck, after all._

_While Sabrina is likely to still be operating somewhere in Central Kanto at the moment, one of her psychic abilities seems to include the ability to teleport, so it's possible she could be anywhere in Kanto at the moment, or even as far as Johto for all anyone knows._

_Officer Jenny promises that she and the League will do everything in their power to apprehend the criminal as soon as possible. So for now, dear readers, we urge you all to stay safe"_

Ash and Misty continued staring at the computer screen for a full two minutes after they both finished reading the article, jaws agape. Eventually, the two teens slowly turned to one another, exchanging worried grimaces.

"… Well…" Misty mumbled, finally breaking the silence "… Guess you won't need to challenge her again?"

Ash breathed a weary sigh, scrolling back up the article to stare at the sinister profile shot of Sabrina, eyes filling with regret.

He couldn't say Sabrina was actually that much different from how she'd been in the old timeline. Creating illusions to mess with people, traumatising gym challengers, turning people into dolls (Including her mother, originally, along with Misty and Brock)… not much about her actions in this timeline sounded different, other than how many people she'd apparently done the doll trick with.

And possibly the thing about her father, Ash wasn't really sure what happened to him before. The only adult man that seemed to have much of a role in her life as far as he was aware was that photographer.

But regardless of how terrifying and possibly unhinged she had been in the old timeline, Ash and his friends had at least been able to help reform Sabrina. All it took was a friendly Haunter from Lavender Town giving her a good laugh, and Sabrina's cold, menacing exterior melted away, and by the time Ash, Brock and Misty departed Saffron that day she seemed on track to becoming a genuinely good person.

It didn't seem like she'd been given that chance this time around, though. Ash wondered briefly if Scrooge McDuck had tried to reason with her, or had just wrote her off as a villain as the news article had kept describing her and showed her no sympathy.

The thought of the latter did frustrate Ash and briefly made him feel resentful, but that quickly subsided. Why would Scrooge have any reason to sympathise with Sabrina if she attacked him, after all? As far as he knew, she really was a villain… for that matter, as far as Ash knew, maybe she was actually much worse in this timeline and wouldn't have been as easy to convince to turn over a new leaf.

A lump formed in Ash's throat thinking about that. He didn't really know Sabrina that long or well, he'd be lying if he said she was one of his favourite Gym Leaders he'd ever met. She spent most of the time he'd interacted with her messing around with him and his friends and putting them all in grave danger seemingly for her weird, childish sense of amusement.

But Ash still felt bad for her, looking at this article and taking in all of what it said about how she had apparently turned out in this reality. She wasn't evil originally, still might not be here even. Regardless of what she'd done originally, she'd changed her ways eventually and was on a better path in life.

It just didn't seem fair that she'd had that taken away from her.

"I remember hearing about all this" Misty piped up, interrupting Ash's trail of thought. She started rubbing her head, looking just as regretful as Ash felt right now "I didn't have to think about it until just now of course, but now it's really hitting me… wow. Things really went wrong for Sabrina this time, didn't they?"

"You think…" Ash hesitated, trying to muster up as much optimism as possible "Do you think maybe we could grab Haunter again, and then if we meet Sabrina we could reform her like last time?"

Misty fixed Ash with a weak smile. Following a brief silence she shook her head and pointed to a part of the screen beneath the article's headline. Ash narrowed his eyes on the date the story was posted. April 1st… two years ago.

Ash sighed miserably.

"When the news first broke, everyone in Cerulean City, and I'm guessing most people in Kanto, were on edge for weeks afterwards. The police and the G-men kept searching for her, but there were never any sightings and Sabrina just seemed to disappear off the face of the planet completely.

Eventually, people just moved on and forgot about the fact there was a potentially murderous mind-reading Psychic possibly lurking around somewhere in the region. It just didn't seem like anyone was really in danger. Honestly, as much as we have a talent for running into strange and interesting people, I wouldn't set your hopes too high. We might never run into her… and you might not like what you find if we do" Misty explained, putting a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder when she was finished.

Ash let out a loud, frustrated groan and slowly rubbed his hands down over his face. He promptly closed the page with the offending news article and logged out of his emails.

"I think I'll read more of this stuff in the morning. Suddenly I'm not in the mood for possibly finding out that Koga works for Team Rocket now, or that Pryce likes to kidnap children" Ash grumbled. Misty gripped his shoulder and shifted uncomfortably, desperately trying to think of something to ease Ash's conscience.

"… At least Brock and I are the same" Misty said quietly. Ash looked at her with a blank expression, and she offered him a warm smile "We're always going to be your friends. That can never change"

Ash smiled. He stared silently at his lap for a moment after, then rose his left hand to place it over Misty's on his shoulder.

"Thanks" Ash said, raising his head again to look Misty in the eye. Misty was relieved to see a smile on his face again "That... that really helps"

Misty giggled, pulling her hand free from Ash's and pulling off his signature cap so she could ruffle his hair for a moment. Ash frowned at her for that gesture, blushing slightly, but he didn't openly protest or try to stop her.

"We'll set everything straight eventually. Sabrina will be fine" Misty said, making sure her tone was upbeat "I know it's hard, seeing someone you know get their life messed up like that… but you're going to fix it by putting the world back to normal. It's okay to feel bad for her, but try not to let it get you down too badly. You definitely won't be any help to her if you start moping about it and that holds you back from winning the league and everything, after all"

Ash nodded. He turned off the PC and rose to his feet.

"Yeah… I guess that makes sense. Who knows, maybe things will work out fine" He said hopefully, smiling at the approving wink Misty sent him "I think I want to go to bed right now, though. I guess I'll figure out what I'm going to do about my fourth Gym Badge in the morning. Maybe I'll feel better about this whole thing by then"

Without another word, Ash quickly started walking towards the nearest set of stairs that would take him to the floor where the Pokemon Center's guest bedrooms were, Misty following shortly after. As he was climbing up the stairs Ash did briefly stop and wonder something, however.

_'If that's how Sabrina turned out, though… I don't think I even want to know what some of the really bad guys we met are like this time around'_

* * *

_***Pewter** **City** **Pokemon Center,** **April** **6th,** **10am"**_

"Free, Free! Free! _*And then I was like, screw your tackle! Taste my mighty spores! And then I blasted him from behind and BOOM, Victory was MINE!*_ " Butterfree declared, spinning through the air and making dramatic gestures with his wings like he was punching the air.

Pidgeotto was sitting on the table and nodding along to Butterfree's dramatic recollections, looking impressed.

"Pidgeo _*Sounds like quite_ _a comeback. Good work*"_ Said Pidgeotto. Butterfree stopped flailing around and looked happily at the bird, despite his lack of a mouth it was clear the bug was smiling.

"Free. *I felt awesome! Sorry you didn't see it. I hope I get to watch your battle with Misty*"

Pidgeotto stretched out her wings impressively, looking confident "Pidgeotto! _*I shall put on a grand show! And if Team Rocket dare try and ruin it for me again, I'll defeat them too!*_ "

"Pi, Pika? _*Hey, speaking of Team Rocket… where've they been? Haven't seen them in this timeline since that time in the forest?*"_ Pikachu pondered, sitting on the table next to Pidgeotto.

"Free, free? _*Maybe the Beedrill abducted them and they're having trouble breaking free? Think we should go back and help?*"_ Butterfree asked. Pikachu shrugged dismissively in response.

"Pikachu _*They'll probably be fine. They can get out of trouble themselves. I was just curious*_ " Pikachu said casually. Butterfree and Pidgeotto nodded, recognising he was probably right.

Misty watched the Pokemon's back and forth discussion with a curious expression from a seat on the opposite side of the table Pikachu and Pidgeotto were sitting on. She turned to Ash, who was sitting besides her and examining the contents of his bag.

"Must be fascinating, being able to understand everything they're saying" Misty commented. Ash blinked, zipping his backpack closed.

"Oh, yeah. It's pretty cool" Ash replied non-chalantly "Honestly, it barely feels like it makes a difference with Pikachu anyway. He and I were always so in-synch I could practically understand him already, even if I didn't know exactly what the words he said meant most of the time. But, yeah, I guess it's still neat getting to really talk with everybody… it's kinda funny how it feels like one of the least weird things about this timeline to me, though"

"Mind telling me what they're saying right now?"

"I wasn't listening too closely, but Butterfree was bragging about his battle with Geodude, and Pikachu said something about Team Rocket" Ash said absent-mindedly. Misty nodded along, frowning curiously at the mention of Ash's long-time stalkers.

"I do wonder what they're up to, right now. You said you restored their memories and asked them to work with you… for some dumb reason, right?" Misty asked, giving Ash a dubious look. Ash scratched his head sheepishly and avoided looking her in the eye.

"It seemed like it was worth a shot… I dunno though, I was expecting them to have shown up to talk about it some more now" Ash said, humming thoughtfully "… I hope they're actually thinking about what I offered them, and they aren't just planning how to double cross us somehow…"

"Frankly I wouldn't be surprise if that's exactly what they're doing" Misty sighed, narrowing her eyes at Ash "It wouldn't be the first time, after all. I get why you did it, and I don't think Jessie, James or Meowth are really… you know, EVIL-evil. But they're a bunch of idiots and really short sighted. Even if it is possible for them to turn over a new leaf, and then actually commit to being good people, I just… it's probably not going to happen by just telling them the world's in trouble and it'd be in their best interest to help you. They're going to be stubborn about it. Mark my words, we're probably going to have to fight them a couple of times before they really start to come around, if at all"

"You're very cynical about them, aren't you?" Ash quipped.

"And you're not?" Misty asked incredulously, waving her hands around dramatically "Seriously Ash, they followed you around for six years, seven regions, eight if you count the times you went to Galar plus all the other times you went to those other regions, and dozens of islands, all just to try and steal your Pokemon. They're as commited to being creeps as you are to being a Pokemon Master. I know we joke sometimes about how they're useless and whatever, but they can be dangerous. Just…"

Misty sighed, taking a moment to relax before giving Ash a concerned look "Just be careful, alright? It's good that you have faith in people. I don't even think Team Rocket don't have some good in them, or the potential to turn good. But… please don't let your guard down and be ready for when something goes wrong. I don't… I worry about you sometimes, alright, having to deal with those no good crooks all the time, and Brock and I aren't always there to help you. I just don't want to see you get hurt…"

An awkward silence followed for a while after that, even Pikachu, Butterfree and Pidgeotto had ended their own discussions to stare at the two trainers in concern. Ash kept his eyes to the ground at first, then eventually shook his head and gave Misty a reassuring smile.

"I promise I'll be careful" He said tenderly "I want to give Team Rocket a chance. I know it's risky, and I'm prepared to have to fight them over it. I'll accept if it doesn't work and I won't let my guard down with them… but I think it's worth trying. They all at least deserve the chance to turn good, and I'm sure they could help us out a lot if it happened. I'm going to stand by that. But I'll try not to be stupid about it. Okay?"

Misty smiled softly at Ash, letting out a content sigh "That's all I ask"

Pikachu crossed over the table and bounced onto Misty's lap, hugging her around the stomach. Misty blinked at Pikachu, giggling as she began petting the yellow mouse "Thanks Pikachu, you always know how to cheer a girl up"

Ash looked at Pikachu with a raised eyebrow and a slightly irritated expression. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason he felt oddly jealous of Pikachu cutting into that moment.

Butterfree seemingly sensed that he was jealous but misunderstood why, as he soon flew up to Ash and latched onto the side of his head, nuzzling his face affectionately against Ash's. Ash wanted to protest, but Butterfree's antennas started tickling his face so all he could do in response for a minute was laugh hysterically.

Misty put a hand to her lips and stifled a laugh at the sight of Butterfree cuddling up to Ash's head, both finding it adorable and thinking she was really glad the bug knew better than to try something like that with her. She suddenly blinked and turned away from Ash, noticing the front door to the Pokemon Center opening.

Seeing who it was entering the lobby, Misty smiled and waved "Morning Brock, over here!"

Ash's eyes widened and he grabbed Butterfree with both hands and forcibly pulled the cuddly butterfly off of his head, gently placing him down on the table before getting up and turning to watch his older friend approaching the table.

Brock forcefully slammed a large notebook against the table, leaning slightly against said table as he stared at Ash and Misty with a wide, proud grin on his face. Ash and Misty quickly noted that there were some enormous black bags under Brock's slanted eyes.

"Good morning, my dear and loyal friends. Are you all set for adventure? Because I certainly am!" Brock passionately declared. After a moment of silence he broke out in a wide, loud yawn that lasted a good ten seconds. Ash and Misty shrunk back, looking concerned.

"… Pika… _*Okay…*"_ Pikachu said awkwardly.

"Did you…" Ash said slowly "Did you get any sleep last night, Brock?"

"Exactly two hours of it" Brock replied in an upbeat tone. Following another heavy yawn he elaborated "Most of the night I spent recalling our advenutres, and writing down a list of important landmarks and stops we need to make on the way to getting Ash to the Pokemon League, retracing our steps as well as I could remember. In this notebook I wrote down which Gyms we need to go to, which of Ash's Pokemon we met in order and where, as well as mine and Misty's we also need to recapture, and basically all the other noteworthy events of our Kanto journey"

Ash and Misty blinked, carefully nodding at Brock with uneasy smiles on their faces. Pidgeotto and Butterfree cocked their heads at him, staring blankly.

"Okay, that's pretty impressive and I guess it's a good idea we have a discussion about all that before setting off…" Misty began. She frowned at Brock "… But you really didn't need to stay up all night doing that. We were probably going to give it a day before heading for Cerulean City, you could have waited 'til now and we'd all just plan that out together?"

After struggling to stifle a third big yawn, Brock responded to Misty with a meek shrug "In my defense, it was hard to fall asleep with my head buzzing with all these new memories bouncing around in it. And I like organizing things and planning stuff out, so what else was I gonna do?"

"You want me to lend you Butterfree if you still can't sleep tonight? His sleep powder can probably help with that" Ash offered. Butterfree chirped eagerly and fluttered around the table, unconsciously releasing a small cloud of blue spores in the process that promptly knocked Pidgeotto out cold.

The three trainers and Pikachu all stared at the sleeping bird in mild worry, Butterfree took a bit longer to catch onto what happened and when he did he quickly plopped down on the table and covered his face with his wings, looking bashful.

"Uhh… I think I'll be fine. My mind seems more settled now" Brock replied in a deadpanned tone. After covering his mouth and letting out a few quicker yawns he picked up his notebook and held it in front of his chest, asking "So, want to get started?"

"Sure, go ahead" Ash said, returning the slumbering Pidgeotto to her pokeball and sitting back down. Butterfree spread his wings again and watched Pidgeotto get sucked into the ball, then waddled over to jump down into Ash's lap, earning a head pat from the trainer afterwards. Brock took a seat on the opposite end of the table, flipping open the notebook and staring at the opened pages with a studious expression.

"So, let's quickly recap. We all got sent back in time, and we need to redo our Kanto Journey along with all of Ash's other ones, with the goal of Ash winning at least the majority of the leagues he's competed in this time around, reuniting with all our old Pokemon and reminding some of our friends of how the world's supposed to be while we're at it. Thus far, all three of us have been reunited and Professor Oak and Team Rocket, for whatever reason, all have their memories back, and Ash has possession of Pidgeotto and Butterfree" Brock said, peeking over the top of the notebook at Ash "Have I missed anything important?"

"No, that's basically everything besides the weird reality changes" Ash answered.

"Good, good" Brock said with a nod, stopping briefly to stifle another yawn before continuing "So then, naturally our next order of business is going to be travelling to Cerulean City so you and Misty can have your Gym Battle. We need to stop at Mt Moon on the way so I can catch Zubat, maybe stop Team Rocket if they decide to steal the Clefairy's giant moon stone again. But you said they might consider helping us restore the timeline, so we don't know if that'll be necessary"

"Should be nice to see Seymour again, anyway. And those Clefairy are adorable" Misty said, petting Pikachu with an excited smile as she recalled the cute dance ritual the Clefairy and Clefable had performed the last time she, Ash, May and Max had visited Mt Moon.

The smile faded slightly as she realized that Seymour the scientist hadn't actually been around during that visit despite his declaration of wanting to live with the Clefairy, and though she didn't dwell on it for too long she did wonder where he'd gone off to.

"Right" Brock nodded at Misty, flipping a page of his notebook "I don't think there's anything else we need to do before Cerulean barring maybe some quick training, and aside from your Gym Battle I don't think there's anything we need to do in the city either apart from meeting up with… Angie, right?" Ash nodded, and Brock chuckled to himself "Didn't know if I was ever going to see her again, certainly didn't expect her to join us for a big adventure like this. But yeah, incase there's something you guys want to do while we're there, that's it for Cerulean"

"I should probably grab Psyduck from the Gym. And come to think of it, I left Goldeen there too this time around for some reason. I oughta fix that" Misty said thoughtfully.

Ash, Pikachu and Brock all nodded at her. After a moment they all frowned, then their eyebrows collectively shot to the top of their heads as the first part of what Misty had said fully registered and they all gaped at the tomboy, who looked between their confused faces with an amused smirk "Oh yeah, I already have Psyduck in this reality. Pretty convenient, right?"

"You didn't think to mention that?" Ash asked.

Misty closed her eyes and held up her nose in response, still smirking "You never asked"

"So, when'd that happen?" Brock inquired.

"About a year ago. My sisters were doing some modelling stuff in Hop Hop Hop Town on Princess Day, they were having some kind of festival there so I got dragged along. It was pretty fun, actually, apart from Lily and Violet making me their pack mule when they went on a shopping spree" Misty shuddered at the memory, shooting her friends apologetic looks "I'm very sorry for the times I did that to you guys"

"You should be" Ash said matter of factly, crossing his arms and staring crossly at Misty. The red head rolled her eyes and laughed sarcastically.

"Ha ha. I did get those two back pretty good by making them carry twice as much for MY shopping spree later, anyway" Misty giggled, a wicked grin on her face "Anyway, the important part is I actually caught Psyduck while I was there… by accident, when I tripped over and dropped a pokeball I found that day and Psyduck kept tapping it"

"Wow, I guess some things really are just fated to happen in any timeline, aren't they" Brock said, scratching his cheek. Misty shrugged.

"Apparently. Technically I didn't have my trainers' license yet so Psyduck ended up being registered to Daisy for a while, but he is officially my Pokemon now" Misty said, putting her head in her hands and staring at the ceiling "I remember being as annoyed about it as I was the last time. I guess I left him behind at the Gym because I thought he was useless… now that I have my old memories back, I'm going to fix that though. Psyduck can be frustrating sometimes with how spacey he is and everything, but I really do appreciate that silly duck. He's a really loyal Pokemon and my friend… plus, we're probably going to need those psychic powers of his at some point, right?"

"I'll say" Ash nodded, recalling some of the times Psyduck's splitting headaches had caused him to become an unstoppable battling machine.

Ash flinched as an image of his Kingler being struck with confusion flashed in his mind. He made a note to find a good counter to Psyduck's confusion in case Misty ever figured out how to get Psyduck to use his powers without suffering head trauma first and then used Psyduck in a battle against him.

Wait, she wouldn't use Psyduck in their Gym battle, would she?

"Well, I guess we might not need to spend too much time at Hop Hop Hop town later then. Though we should probably do something about the Hypno causing kids to act like Pokemon thing, anyway… and we might need to do one other thing while we're there, actually, but more on that in a bit" Brock said, suddenly looking rather bitter and uncomfortable. Before either Ash or Misty could inquire about why he continued speaking "Anyway, after Cerulean we have at least four of Ash's Pokemon to go round up in a row before we get to the next Gym: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Krabby"

"Alright!" Ash pumped a fist into the air, startling Butterfree who was nuzzling against his chest "I can't wait to see them all again!"

Ash's enthusiasm was tempered slightly by the tepid frown on Brock's face. The adult of the trio sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah… this might be where things get a tad complicated" Brock said solemnly. Misty, Ash, Pikachu and Butterfree looked at him in concern, and so he elaborated "Ash, do you remember where you found Krabby?"

Ash blinked at Brock. He scrunched up his face into a thoughtful frown and began tapping his head, thinking back "Uhh… oh… OH! Yeah, it was near a lighthouse, right?"

"Uh huh" Brock nodded, leaning forward to look Ash in the eye "Do you remember the guy who lived in that lighthouse?"

"Bill, right?" Misty cut in. Ash looked at her in surprise, prompting Misty to shrug "He's actually pretty well known in Cerulean City. He's some kind of a scientist who helped Silph Co. reach some breakthroughs with transporter technology. He's the guy you have to thank for Pokeballs teleporting to Professor Oak's ranch, or wherever else a Pokemon trainer sets up their Pokemon to go when they have more than six on hand…"

Misty's eyes suddenly widened. She clenched her teeth, looking at Ash with a tremendously awkward expression on her face "… His lighthouse is North of Cerulean City"

Ash blinked "North…" He trailed off, a puzzled look on his face that slowly morphed into disbelief, and then pure shock "… Of Cerulean City?!"

"Yep" Brock said, slowly nodding as he quietly watched Ash look like he was slowly descending into a nervous breakdown.

"… Cerulean… we travelled South, after I won the cascade badge… to get to Vermillion City…" Ash said slowly, blinking after every few words "… Vermillion City is south of Cerulean… and we got to Bill's lighthouse sometime before we got there… which is NORTH of Cerulean City"

Brock quietly nodded along, waving his hand to prompt Ash to continue. He remained silent for a long time however, while Misty just put a hand over her mouth and shook her head in embarrassment, and Pikachu proceeded to facepalm.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Ash slammed both hands down on the table in front of him before throwing his hands up in the air, startling Butterfree so much that the bug jumped out of his lap and onto the table.

"HOW THE HECK DID WE GET LOST _THAT_ BADLY?!"

Over at the counter Nurse Joy gave Ash a surprised stare, followed by a disapproving frown over his outburst. If there had been any more trainers in the lobby at the moment Ash probably would have had a whole crowd of stunned onlookers watching him curiously right now.

As there weren't any, Ash just put his hands on his head and ruffled his hair in frustration for a minute as Pikachu let out a tired laugh.

"Pikapika, chuuu… _*I know we joke all the time about how bad our senses of direction are… but wow, that's gotta be our personal getting lost record*"_ Pikachu groaned.

"It is kind of embarrassing, I agree… but the getting lost part isn't the big issue here" Brock said, an ominous note in how he spoke that got Ash to stop freaking out and look at him uncertainly, along with Misty and the Pokemon "You see, I have a vague idea where to find Bulbasaur. We found him at a place called the Hidden Village, which I think is south of Pokemon Tech, that school we visited. That's just South East of Cerulean, so I don't think it'll be too hard to get there again. I looked up the Squirtle Squad online, they seem to mostly terrorize a place called Tumbleweed Town, which is somewhere between Cerulean City and Bill's Lighthouse, so that'll be easy to get to…"

Brock placed his notebook down on the table for a moment and looked between his two friends with an expression of utmost seriousness "… But apart from that there was a Pokemon Center nearby… I can't for the life of me recall where exactly we found Charmander"

A deafening silence followed Brock's confession. Ash and Misty stared at Brock at first with surprised expressions, which slowly morphed into horrified grimaces as their minds started to jump to the worst possible scenarios that information could bring about. Pikachu curled up in Misty's arms, clutching her stomach in concern, and even Butterfree eventually seemed to catch onto what was bothering everyone and broke the silence with a depressed chirp.

"Charmander was left out in the rain…" Ash muttered, somewhat distantly as he stared at the notebook Brock had set down. His face twitched as he looked back up at Brock "… If we can't find him again…"

"I know" Brock said grimly, putting his hands together and leaning his arms against the table. Ash and Misty felt their hearts sink.

"It can't… we can probably figure that out" Misty blurted out, trying not to sound too frantic "It shouldn't be too hard… retracing our steps-"

"The problem is, we spent a few weeks wandering around aimlessly trying to get to Vermillion City after leaving Cerulean" Brock interrupted, curling his fingers over both hands and looking frustrated "I don't even recall how we managed to circle back around and get all the way to Tumbleweed Town and then Bill's Lighthouse, so I can't say whether we circled around past Cerulean City after leaving the Hidden Village, or headed North West from there. So Charmander could end up being anywhere a few days out from Cerulean in who knows what direction"

"We can look up every Pokemon Center around Cerulean online or something, can't we?!" Ash snapped, earning a half-shrug from Brock.

"We could, I'll certainly make an extensive list later" Brock said, still looking troubled "But with everything else different about this world… I can't promise you there'll actually be a Pokemon Center in the same location, or that Damian might not just end up dumping Charmander somewhere else this time… it's a possibility. Didn't Misty just say she has her Psyduck already?"

More uncomfortable silence followed, this time broken by Ash slamming a fist on the table, looking desperately furious.

"I'm not letting anything happen to Charmander!" Ash declared. His friends all shifted uncomfortably. Misty put a hand tenderly over his fist and fixed Ash with a pleading look to calm him down. It got the boy to look less angry at least, but did little overall to temper the mounting sense of desperation he felt.

"I'll look into all reports of abandoned Pokemon I can find, and try and map out a route that'll help us cover as much ground as possible for places Charmander might be" Brock said to his friends "If we have to, we'll all split up to cover as much ground as possible. I'll ask around on trainer and Gym Leader forums if anyone's seen a trainer named Damian, and where he might be now, hopefully that'll give us a trail to follow…"

Brock's face drooped for a moment and he gave Ash a sympathetic look "We'll do everything we possibly can to find Charmander before anything horrible might happen… but I'm not going to guarantee you it'll be easy. Maybe we'll find him straight away, maybe not at all… or maybe someone else will wander by and catch him if we're not quick enough. I'm not trying to scare you or anything, it's just… this alternate timeline stuff is complicated, Ash. I think you need to brace yourself incase things don't line up the way we want or expect them to"

Ash's body trembled for a moment and he gripped the tip of his cap, thinking back to the article from last night about Sabrina. About how everything had went wrong for her in this timeline long before he'd ever even had a chance to meet her.

Ash grit his teeth and swiftly rose to his feet, bolting towards the door.

"I'm going to go find him right now!"

"Ash, stop!" Misty yelled, scooping Pikachu into her arms as she stood up.

"Pikapi! Pikapika! _*Ash, you can't just run off like that! You don't know where you're even going exactly, and it'd take a week to get there at least!*_ " Pikachu anxiously called after his trainer, who came to a stop halfway to the entrance of the Pokemon Center, still trembling.

Brock sighed heavily and pushed back, turning his chair to get a better look at Ash. He had been expecting a reaction like this, so remained a lot calmer than either of his friends.

"I'm worried too" Brock said simply, noting Ash's clenching fists "I agree finding Charmander should be our highest priority for a while. Heck, you and Misty can probably hold off on your Gym Battle until we do. But if the timeline of events lines up anywhere near close enough to how things would have originally happened, Damian probably won't abandon Charmander for at least a few more weeks"

"Let me try and piece together where we're going to look for him, and we'll worry more about it when we're close to Cerulean City. I get the concern, but it's going to do Charmander no good charging around in a blind panic trying to find him before he's even ready to be found" Brock finished in a stern tone. Ash turned around and glared at Brock for a moment, looking like he wanted to protest briefly before his better instincts held him back.

Eventually Ash let out a resigned sigh and returned to the table, plopping down into his seat and staring bitterly at the floor. Misty sat down too and watched him closely with much concern along with Pikachu.

She wanted to say something comforting, but between Sabrina getting arrested, Molly and Ash being surrogate siblings and everything else different about this timeline they were in, she couldn't help but worry right now that any optimistic assumption she offered might turn out to be a lie and result in Ash being hurt worse down the line, and so she bit her tongue.

Ash stopped trembling after a minute and shook his head. He then raised his head to give Brock an imploring look "Can we at least leave tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow? I don't want to wait too long if we can help it. If we find the right Pokemon Center again, at least we can wait until Damian stops by… if he does…"

Brock hesitated for a moment, then gave an approving nod "Yeah, that's fine" He said, frowning slightly "My brothers and sisters won't like it and I might have to make another excuse, but making sure Charmander's going to be alright is the most important thing right now"

Ash gave a nod of his own and leaned right back into his seat, staring contemplatively at the ceiling. Images of a sickly Charmander sitting alone on a rock in the pouring rain flashed through his head, and he had to fight the darker corners of his mind so he wouldn't start dwelling too much on just how disastrously things could have gone if he, Brock and Misty hadn't been there to bring the orange fire lizard to the Pokemon Center in their normal timeline.

Ash barely knew Sabrina and couldn't even really call her a friend, and it still hurt him thinking about how badly her life ended up going in this reality.

He swore in that moment that he would NOT allow anything that bad or worse to happen to ANY of his Pokemon. Ash didn't care if he had to scout every square inch of Kanto, or even hound Damian all the way to Galar and back. He was getting Charmander back safe and sound.

With a determined grunt, Ash cleared his head and sat upright. Noticing the worried looks from his friends and Pokemon he managed to form a weak smile, which seemed to reassure them slightly.

"Okay, so finding Charmander before anything bad happens is our first move" Ash said suddenly, fixing his gaze on Brock again "Then it's off to Vermilion City when we've got him, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Krabby, right?"

The impatient tone of his voice made it pretty clear that he wanted to get this whole journey recap out of the way quickly. Misty and Brock grew concerned again, but said nothing. They didn't want Ash panicking and rushing off, but they couldn't fault him for being on edge about Charmander's safety at the moment: They both were too right now. So Brock simply cleared his throat and opened the notebook back up, turning a few pages.

"Yeah, Vermilion City, where you'll have to battle Lt. Surge again" Brock confirmed. Misty hummed thoughtfully.

"Hey, you said you might want to find your friend Goh while we're there, right Ash?" Misty asked. Ash blinked for a moment, face lighting up briefly despite how uneasy he was still feeling as he nodded in confirmation "You got anyone else you want to, what was the word, remind while we're there? Like that Professor guy?"

"Professor Cerise, yeah. I was thinking I should remind him" Ash said, scratching his nose and thinking about his friendly employer. A thought quickly occurred to him "… I don't know where he lives, though. I don't think he bought the lab yet… I don't even think Gengar's living there this many years back, actually"

"Cerise is the Professor you said you were working for now in that last email you sent me, right?" Brock asked, earning a quick "Yeah" from Ash "You could always ask Professor Oak where to find him?"

"I think I'll just ask Goh. He's friends with Chloe and he was always hanging around with the Professor, and I know where he lives" Ash replied. He made a quick mental note to remind Chloe too. She was his friend… and, she probably thought he was hers too, he assumed… maybe? Would she be counted as an exemption from the reminding limit?

"Okay, so battle Lt. Surge, find your friends and the Professor that live in Vermilion if we can, and that's about it for Vermilion City apart from…" Brock trailed off, grimacing "… The St Anne…"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu all fell silent for a moment, and then started shivering as a bunch of less than pleasant memories rose up in their minds. Butterfree looked at them curiously, craning his head.

"Free, free? _*Saint who? Oh wait, was that the big boat we were on… the time Ash traded me for a Raticate for some reason and then traded back because he regretted it?*_ " Butterfree asked Pikachu "Free? _*Why does everyone look so uncomfortable?*"_

"Pika, Pikachu? Pii _*Because we all nearly died like five different times after that ship sank and we got washed up on this weird island that I think ended up being an amusement park or something? And that was after dozens of Team Rocket guys attacked the place*_ " Pikachu groaned back, causing Butterfree to stare at him in shock.

"… Free… _*… The things you miss being inside your ball, wow…*_ " Butterfree said, shaking his head. He turned to Ash, who was exchanging an uncomfortable look with Misty.

"… Think maybe we can just skip that one and just head straight to the beach?" Ash asked. Misty shook her head reluctantly.

"We could… but we should probably go anyway to help keep Team Rocket from getting away with robbing everyone" Misty sighed.

Brock offered Misty a half-hearted shrug "I mean… they all went down without much of a fight last time once everyone on board remembered they had Pokemon to battle with, so we probably won't make too much of a difference…"

"But with our luck, they'll send someone competent to lead the attack this time instead of Jessie and James" Ash interjected, looking frustrated "Like Biff and Cassidy. Or Domino, or that purple haired woman from the Resort area"

Brock quickly flipped through to a much later page in his notebook, pulled out a pen and started scribbling something down "Note to self… tell Professor Oak to call the Pokemon Institute and have them investigate Domino" After he finished jotting that down, Brock flipped back to the page he was on and looked between his two friends "… I take it we're boarding that ship if we can get tickets again, then?"

"We might as well. It was heading to Porta Vista, and we need to go there anyway" Misty sighed in resignation, stroking Pikachu's head "Maybe we should tip off Officer Jenny that Team Rocket might attack the place though, so we don't have to deal with that whole mess… or maybe ask Professor Oak if he can pull a few strings to get the word out. Less awkward questions for us"

"Sounds about right. We really can't just ignore it completely, that'd be wrong" Ash said. He blinked suddenly, turning to Misty "… Wait, it was really heading to Porta Vista?"

"Convenient how we ended up there anyway, afterwards. Huh?" Brock chuckled lightly, flipping another page in his notebook "And yeah… assuming things don't go disastrously wrong and the ship sinks again, it'll hopefully take us to Porta Vista. Or we can head there ourselves afterwards if it does sink… at least we know you're not going to trade Butterfree this time, so hold on to your pokeballs and hopefully we'll be fine. Anyway, at Porta Vista we need to pick up Misty's Horsea, and I guess we better help out Moe and convince the Giant Tentacruel to not lay waste to human civilization"

"That Tentacruel was pretty reasonable before, so it shouldn't be too hard to talk it and the Tentacool down" Misty said positively, breaking out in a giddy smile "And yay! Horsea! No way am I letting my sister's hog him for themselves this time. There's plenty of Pokemon at the Gym this time!"

"And after that we pass through Maiden's Peak…"

"Pass!" Ash and Misty loudly interrupted Brock, and Pikachu quickly voiced his own disapproval. Brock chuckled weakly.

"Heh… yeah, probably a good idea" Brock said. He paused for a moment, thinking wistful thoughts about a certain stone maiden "… We do need to pass through that general area North of Porta Vista though, because it's how we're gonna get to…" Brock paused for an even longer moment, looking sadly at Butterfree. Ash, Misty and Pikachu all followed suit, quickly catching onto the implication.

Butterfree chirped awkwardly, tapping his hands together "… Free… *… _Then it might be time for me to go, right?*"_

"Yeah" Ash nodded at the bug. He looked between the rest of the group "I talked about that with him the other day. In short… we might be able to work something out so we see him again, eventually… but…"

"But no guarantees it's not another permanent goodbye, is it?" Brock concluded, earning sad nods from Ash, Misty and Pikachu and a very uneasy sound from Butterfree.

"Whatever happens, Butterfree's happiness comes first. I don't want to say goodbye again, but if that's how it has to be, we'll manage" Ash told his friends, and gave Butterfree an encouraging smile. Butterfree looked happily at Ash, clearly struggling not to tear up a bit. Misty, Brock and Pikachu smiled silently at the bug-type for a while afterwards before Brock eventually continued the conversation.

He suddenly looked very awkward again "Okay… last night I thought at first I was going to suggest we keep heading North after the Butterfree Migration to get to Lavender Town, so we could pick up Haunter. But…" Brock sighed heavily, looking bitterly between his friends. He quickly noted how Ash, Misty and Pikachu all looked perturbed "… So… I don't know if you've all heard, but, um…"

"Sabrina's an escaped convict in this reality" Misty answered grouchily.

"Yeah, that" Brock nodded. After Ash let out a loud, exhausted groan Brock looked down at his notes and added "Well, that saves me time… I checked online, Saffron unfortunately doesn't have an active Gym at the moment. So, Ash, I'm afraid you're going to have to get your fourth badge somewhere else"

Ash sighed "Ok, so where else can I get badges in Kanto?"

"In this timeline at least, there's about eighteen Gyms in Kanto. One for each type" Brock explained "The ones you faced off against last time were actually ranked among the top eight best Pokemon Gym's in Kanto before time reset… Saffron and Cerulean aren't currently in this timeline, Saffron because again, it's closed, and the Cerulean Gym doesn't even crack the top ten at the moment… but I'm sure Misty will fix that eventually"

"You're darn right I will!" Misty said determinedly, crossing her arms and raising her head proudly "My Gym was top THREE where I left off, and I had my eyes set on first place for next years' poll!"

"Huh, so I battled the best eight Gym leaders" Ash said, grinning a bit "… Well, seven best and Team Rocket, anyway, but still… guess I should be proud of that. What about all the other regions I did the league challenge, then?"

"Got me? I'm pretty sure you did the top eight in Johto, anyway" Brock said, looking back at his notes with a slight frown "… We got off topic, though. The point I was trying to make is that there are ten other Gyms you can challenge, soon to be eleven whenever a new Psychic type Gym opens but that might not happen this season. Don't ask why it took so long, I don't know. If you want my opinion, the best way to save time so we don't have to take too many lengthy detours from all the other stuff we have to do would be to challenge either the Ghost Type Gym in Lavender Town, the normal type Gym in Hop Hop Hop Town or the steel type Gym in Gringy City"

"Wait, all of those places have Pokemon Gyms?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow "Did… did they always have those? Even back in our time?"

"I don't… think so" Misty said unsurely, scratching her chin "Hmm… I'm sure Lavender Town did last I checked, I met the Gym leader a while back. But apparently it was a recent thing, so… and I'm sure Gringy City didn't have one. Hop Hop Hop town maybe?"

"Huh" Ash said "Wonder if Hop Hop Hop Town's where Gary got one of his ten badges, then?" He meditated on his options for a moment "… I don't know which one to pick. I guess I'll decide when I get to Lavender Town and see what the Gym there is like"

"Fair enough" Brock nodded.

"You want to grab Haunter again, or should we just skip that?" Misty asked. Ash quietly contemplated it for a moment.

"Might as well. It'd be nice to see him again anyway. He was never really my Pokemon, but if he wants to come along I'll let him… he could probably save us if we do run into Sabrina by any chance" Ash quipped, then offhandedly added "Wonder if I'll have to sorta die again to do that, though?"

Misty and Brock laughed nervously, avoiding eye contact with Ash for a moment. Butterfree blinked, looking rather startled.

"Free, free!? _*Wait-what?! What do you mean die?!*"_ Butterfree squeaked, prompting a lighthearted shrug from Pikachu in Misty's arms.

"Pika, pik _*Long story, a Gengar pulled our spirits out of our bodies for a bit. We were fine, don't worry*_ " Pikachu said calmly. Butterfree still looked worried.

"Aaaanyway!" Brock said loudly, trying to shake off the awkward mood from Ash's last comment "After we're done passing through Lavender Town, we need to pass through Saffron and make our way to Celadon City for your fourth, or fifth, Gym badge Ash"

Misty shot Ash a devious smirk "Try not to say anything bad about Erika's perfume this time, or we're gonna have to take you dress shopping first… Ashley"

Misty, Brock and Pikachu all giggled loudly, giving Ash very unsettling looks of pure amusement. Butterfree didn't get why they were doing it, but enthusiastically joined in anyway.

Ash growled, turning away from his friends to hide his blush "I'll mind my manners" He grumbled, prompting a moment of full on laughter from his friends that made Ash roll his eyes.

After the laughter had settled down and Ash's mood improved a bit, Misty asked "Wait, didn't something else happen on the way to Celadon?"

"Yes, actually. Ash has to meet up with Primeape again" Brock said, smiling nervously. Misty blinked, then gulped as a disturbed expression washed over her face.

"Eh heh… better remind him before he evolves, I think" Misty anxiously told Ash, shivering at the recollection of the beating the angry monkey had delivered to Brock and would have done to them all if he had the chance the last time around.

Ash grimaced, equally worried about a repeat of that unpleasantness "… Yeah. Definitely gonna be careful about that one" He shook his head, and after a moment's hesitation he smiled "Still, it'll be nice to see him again after we don't have to worry about getting pummelled. It's been way too long…"

"Are you going to leave him with Anthony again?" Misty asked. She, Brock and Pikachu all silently hoped Ash would say yes, but the trainer himself looked uncertain.

"I dunno, I'll ask Primeape what he wants to do" Ash said, shrugging "Would be nice to travel with him for longer, but I dunno. He'll probably still want to be a P1-Champion. Last I heard he was doing great at it"

"Guess we'll find out" Brock said simply, reading from his notebook again "So, anyway, after Celadon we should pass through Hop Hop Hop Town. We don't need to worry too much about Psyduck now apparently, but you might have to challenge the Gym there if you don't win a badge in Lavender Town instead. And then Primeape can decide if we have him compete in the P1 Grand Prix again after that, and our next big stop following that should be Gringey City. Guess what Pokemon's waiting for you there?"

"Muk" Ash answered with a smile. He was sure he was going to get a full hour of hugs from the big pile of sludge as soon as he restored his memories.

"Right you are. Should be fun, dealing with all his Grimer friends again" Brock said sarcastically, and Misty covered her nose, remembering the foul stench of the gooey Pokemon "Anyway, after that I think it's a quiet trip on the way to Fuschia City for you to earn your sixth badge"

"Wait, hold on" Misty said, giving Brock a puzzled look. Brock flinched, looking for a second like he'd been caught doing something inappropriate, which made Misty, Ash and Pikachu all curious and a bit suspicious. After a moment of thought Misty asked "I'm sure there was something else important that happened between Celadon and Fuschia"

Brock remained silent and hung his head. Ash and Misty lowered their heads to the table to get a better look at his face, feeling a bit uneasy by how bitter and upset Brock appeared. They sat upright again, Ash raising an eyebrow.

After some more thought, Misty blinked and yelped "Oh, right! Vulpix!"

"Vulpix?" Ash repeated, quickly perking up "Oh yeah!" He turned to Brock "We need to stop at Scissor Street, so you can… get Vulpix… from… Suzie…" Ash trailed off when he noticed Brock still looked rather downbeat, feeling rather confused about it. He and Misty exchanged looks of concern, and so Ash leaned forward to ask "Hey… everything alright?"

Brock gave a dejected sigh, raising his head slightly to address his friends "Vulpix… I probably won't be taking her along this time around"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu simultaneously blinked, then frowned at him in confusion. Brock shook his head and elaborated "Suzie has a blog in this reality... I'm a regular reader. She's going to Hoenn in about a week to compete in a Pokemon Beauty Contest… and after that she's going to be on a tour of the region for the rest of the year while a cousin of hers manages her Salon" Ash and Misty winced, giving Brock sympathetic looks "As you can guess… we're probably going to miss her this time. So…"

Ash and Misty shifted awkwardly, the latter giving a disappointed looking Pikachu a good stroke along his head.

"I'm sorry, Brock" Ash said softly. Brock nodded, putting on a somewhat strained smile and offering a half-hearted shrug.

"Hey, I was probably going to give Vulpix back again come Johto, and I didn't get to see Suzie much after that anyway in our normal timeline. So… no biggie" Brock replied. Ash and Misty didn't buy the non-challant tone he was putting on one bit, but decided it was best not to press him on it. There was little chance of them all getting to Scissor Street in a week, after all.

Sensing the mood, Butterfree flew up onto Brock's shoulder and began affectionately rubbing his face against Brock's the same way he had done with Ash earlier. Brock was taken off guard at first, but quickly started laughing, though whether because Butterfree's antennas were tickling him or out of appreciation for the thoughtful gesture Ash and Misty couldn't tell.

They did smile at how Brock seemed to look a lot less depressed after Butterfree finally ceased snuggling up to him and plopped back down onto the table. Brock hesitated for a moment before clearing his throat.

"So, yeah… Fuschia City is next" Brock said. He yawned loudly, looking annoyed afterwards "… We can leave tonight, but I'm going to bed by ten at the latest. Man… uh, anyway. Near Fuschia City you'll challenge Koga at the Gym, that's six badges. And after that I think we had a few fun little misadventures before we eventually got to the Safari Zone. Can't imagine what we're going to do there…"

"My Tauros" Ash smiled. Misty chuckled lightly, shaking off the lingering awkwardness over the Vulpix situation.

"You're really going to catch all thirty of them again?" Misty asked.

"Of course" Ash nodded "They're my Pokemon, so they're part of the family" He turned back to Brock "I… think that's all the Pokemon I need to catch here in Kanto, unless we run into Aipom somewhere nearby… would be nice, but probably not. What's our next stop?"

"Well, that's the funny thing" Brock said, scanning his notes as he flipped through two pages "From what I recall, a LOT of stuff happened after the Safari Zone, and before we took a boat to Cinnabar Island from… I don't even recall what port we left from. But, apart from a few important things… not a lot of consequence really happened in that time apart from finding Togepi's egg, Charmander evolving twice over, and we met Todd and he started travelling with us until we met Dutch and Cassidy for the first time… and also, I think this was around the time Jigglypuff started following us…"

Ash, Brock and Misty all shivered, instinctively touching their faces as they recalled the many times they'd had to clean off the scribbles the pink fluff ball had written on them with it's marker. Pikachu nervously chortled.

"… Pika… _*Yeah… let's walk on by and pretend we didn't see her, this time*"_ Pikachu laughed, earning a raised eyebrow from Butterfree, and an unconscious nod from Ash followed by a facefault from the black haired youth.

"Wait-Jigglypuff's a girl!?" Ash balked at Pikachu. Misty looked at him oddly.

"You didn't know that?" Misty asked, frowning slightly "I thought that was obvious"

"I'm kind of bad at figuring out what Pokemon's genders are" Ash said with a shrug. He looked at Brock and said "… I agree with Pikachu though… let's try and avoid Jigglypuff. I know she means well, but… boy, is that Pokemon a lot of trouble"

"Tell me about it" Brock shook his head.

"Should be neat to run into Todd again though. And Togepi…" Misty sighed, smiling sadly. Ash, Brock and Pikachu watched in silence as Misty stared contemplatively into space. She let out another, more resigned sigh "I missed Togepi a lot… I'm really glad I get to see him again, travel with him for a while… but…"

Brock smiled weakly and nodded at the red-head "But it's going to be tough saying goodbye again in Hoenn, ain't it?"

Misty sniffled a bit, rubbing her eyes. She didn't cry, but she looked for a second like she might have. After taking a calming breath, Misty gave her friends a reassuring smile.

"I'll be fine" Misty said, frowning slightly "I don't think I ever wanted to relive that goodbye… but it can't be helped. I really am grateful, though… getting another chance to raise Togepi, spend some more time with him… I dunno, I guess I'll just have to try and visit him again at the Mirage Kingdom after all this is over and the world goes back to normal"

Pikachu said something in a kind tone that Misty couldn't understand, but which Ash nodded to and offered a translation.

"He's sure that would make Togepi very happy if you could meet again there"

Misty gave Ash and Pikachu a wide, grateful smile and rubbed Pikachu's head for a good half a minute, much to the yellow rodent's delight. When she was done with that, Misty briefly put on a thoughtful expression before facing Brock "What about meeting Santa Claus? I'm sure that happened around that time, does that count as important?"

Brock made to reply, then hesitated for a bit as he mulled it over, then finally shrugged.

"I mean… it's a pretty big deal in itself, meeting Santa I guess… but apart from stopping Team Rocket from ruining Christmas, I don't… think, anything happened that had lasting consequences for us…" Brock offered meekly.

"I kind of wanted to remind Santa, actually" Ash said, garnering curious stares from his friends "I mean… he's Santa Claus, so if we asked him he'd probably be able to help us out somehow…"

"I… guess…" Misty said uncertainly.

"You can do it if you want, we won't stop you" Brock shrugged, staring intently at his notes "… Not sure where the beach we found his Jynx was though, or if we'll even be there by Christmas… it's eight months away, and if we don't keep getting lost too badly we might be able to get all this other stuff sorted a while before then, I think"

"I mean, we should try and find Jynx again" Ash said "It wouldn't be right to just let her be stranded on a beach somewhere"

"I'm sure Santa would find her eventually, or that magic Lapras" Misty suggested "Santa travels the whole world in a single night and knows his way around. I don't think we'd have to worry about that Jynx being lost forever if we couldn't find her…"

"If we're in the right area at the time we'll definitely try taking Jynx to the North Pole again, but there's other things we should probably focus our attention on more. So, yeah, let's assume what Misty says is true and not worry too much if we don't end up meeting Santa again this time" Brock said, earning an approving nod from Misty and a semi-begrudging nod from Ash.

"Well, okay… what do we do after Cinnabar Island?" Ash asked.

Brock put a finger to the current page of his notebook and quickly read off "Some sort of misadventure with a Blastoise, help Misty's sisters with a play or something at their Gym, then a bunch of Clefairy in a spaceship start stealing a bunch of stuff, and finally we arrived at the Viridian Gym, and you battled Team Rocket for your eighth badge" Brock looked up at Ash inquisitively "… Still going to challenge that Gym?"

"Probably" Ash said, scratching his head "I don't know if it'll be Jessie, James and Meowth this time or Giovanni, but I'll go to the Gym anyway and find out"

An awkward silence hung in the air for a minute as Ash, Brock and Misty avoided looking directly at one another, thinking long and hard over that situation. Brock was the first to speak up again.

"You said we have to beat Team Rocket for good this time, right?" He asked "Before the League, even?"

"Yeah" Ash nodded. Brock hummed quietly.

"… And, you got any ideas for how we're going to do that?"

"I was going to hope Lance would have a plan, whenever Professor Oak managed to get me in tough with him" Ash awkwardly replied, scratching his head "… I kinda asked Jessie, James and Meowth for help with that… but I haven't seen them in days, so until they pop up again I don't know what their answer is going to be. They might agree, they might not"

"Well assuming they don't, which is likely…" Brock said with a stern frown "And even if they do agree to it, in fact… that's going to be extremely difficult. I suggest we look into figuring out where their main hideout is while we're on this little adventure, because apart from finding that out and calling in the G-men and the police, I got nothing apart from maybe trying to call Officer Jenny on Giovanni after you beat him, if you do have to battle him this time, and have her investigate the Viridian Gym"

"I doubt it would be that easy. The guy's a crime boss that hasn't been caught despite having his cover blown for nearly two years, he probably doesn't keep anything that could count as evidence against him in his Gym. Or at least he'd be pretty good at hiding it" Misty said cynically.

"Exactly, which is why we're probably not going with that idea. It'd likely just put a target on our back for worse Team Rocket goons than Jessie and James to start stalking us" Brock said in an equally cynical tone.

Ash groaned "Okay, I get it, beating Team Rocket is hard… we'll figure it out sooner or later. Let's just find Charmander real quick and get a bunch more of our Pokemon so we're actually capable of fighting them before we worry too much about beating them, alright?"

"Fine, fine. That's probably for the best" Brock nodded, flipping the pages of his notebook one last time "Hmm… well, apart from figuring out a plan of attack on Team Rocket… I think that about raps up all the really important stuff we need to do before the League, except finding Mr Mime…"

"He's already at home" Ash said, much to Misty and Brock's surprise. Ash shrugged impishly "Don't ask how, apparently he's lived with us for years…"

"… Huh, alright then" Brock said, a satisfied grin forming on his face "Well, then I guess that's all the big stuff I can think of. You guys remember anything important we need to do?"

Ash, Misty and Pikachu took a full minute to mull it over.

"Hmm… not at the moment, no" Misty shrugged "I mean, I think there's probably some stuff we're forgetting… but we can probably figure that out along the way. I mean this all happened years ago as far as we recall, I'm amazed you put all that together as clearly as you did. Though you did have a whole night, I guess"

Ash continued to frown thoughtfully, tapping his head "I could swear SOMETHING big happened before the League…"

Brock and Misty raised their eyebrows at their friend.

"Really?" Misty asked, gesturing for Ash to elaborate. But all he could do was hum loudly, his mind continuously drawing a blank no matter how hard he thought about it.

"I don't know. It's just…" Ash frowned harder "I get this… feeling, that there's something I should remember… but it's just not coming to me. I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid, or… I don't know. It's a weird feeling"

"… Heh. Well, like Misty said, it's been years, so…" Brock waved his hand dismissively "I wouldn't worry too much about it. At least, not yet? The League's a while off, maybe it'll come back to you if it is anything important"

"Hmm… maybe" Ash admitted.

"Was it the giant Alakazam and Gengar?" Misty asked with a sly smile "I mean… that was a wild one"

"I don't… think that's it" Ash replied. After meditating on it a bit further, Ash finally decided to just shrug it off "Forget it. Maybe it is nothing"

Ash wouldn't forget about it however. It would continue bothering him for most of the day, along with Brock and Misty who after some further thought came to feel a similar sensation of "Something happened back then and I don't know what"

For now however, they all elected to push the thought aside, having much more pressing, current issues to worry about.

So on that note, Brock shook his head and said "By the way Ash, do you remember this pleasant little Kingdom called Rota? It's not too far North of here"

Ash blinked, then nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah. The Tree of Beginning is around there, and we met Lucario at Cameran Castle" Ash replied. Misty raised a brow.

"Was that the place with the Mew and the talking Lucario you mentioned once? After we split up when you were off doing the Battle Frontier?" Misty asked, earning nods from her two friends.

"Yeah…" Ash trailed off, the image of Lucario turning to crystal and fading away flashing through his mind. His lip quivered, and he gave Brock a serious look "I'm going to try and remind Lucario too. I want to see if we can prevent him dying this time"

"I thought you would" Brock said with an approving smile "Which is why I looked up the date of Rota's next Tournament for deciding the "Hero of the Year". It's due December fourteenth. Win that, and we might get the chance to set Lucario free early this time"

Ash's eyes widened and he let out an excited gasp, slamming his hands against the table "Really?"

"Yup. You won the last tournament you competed at there, so it shouldn't be that hard… and even if you lose, we'll all get another chance to compete when you're challenging the Battle Frontier again" Brock said. He fixed Ash a stern, but sympathetic stare "… Of course, you do realise that even if things work out so that Lucario doesn't have to sacrifise himself this time… that's probably going to be temporary. We're trying to set the timeline back, right? And he's not going to be alive in the normal one"

Ash fell silent, feeling the full weight of that sudden reality check hit him like a charging Tauros.

He'd planned to prevent Lucario's death and ask for his help in setting the timeline back to normal since before he'd even set out from Pallet Town the other day… and yet somehow, the reality of what would happen to Lucario when they were done fixing the world had slipped his mind, like a lot of other things it seemed.

So now he had to wonder… was it right to restore Lucario's memories, knowing he would end up dead again anyway at the end of all this? Would that be cruel to his friend?

Would Lucario even want to be revived? If there really was an afterlife… surely he would have landed in a pleasant one. Lucario was a hero, after all. He fought for justice and gave his life to save Mew and the Kingdom of Rota. If there was a heaven, he'd definitely earned a place in it, maybe along with his master Sir Arron. Could Ash really pull Lucario away from that, just to help him with his current problems?

Lucario would probably agree right away. He was noble enough, and Ash was his friend. But it still seemed like a big burden to put on the aura Pokemon.

For a second Ash thought maybe he could just release him from the staff, get him to see Sir Arron hadn't betrayed him without restoring his memories and letting him enjoy his remaining life in this reality at Rota… but then, would that really be much better? He was still going to be dead again eventually…

Ash lowered his head. It really hit him now… when they did eventually set the world right… a lot of what he and his friends were all going to do in this timeline was going to look kind of… pointless, when everything just went back to normal.

Ash had no idea how to process that idea. It hurt his brain trying. After a prolongued silence that caused Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Butterfree to look increasingly concerned for his well being, Ash slapped the sides of his face and took a deep breath.

He looked at his backpack that still sat on the table, recalling the crystal that Arceus and the Beyonder had left him, the one that would supposedly let them contact him when they felt like it. Ash decided to just talk any of that weird time-travel morality stuff out with them and focus his current thoughts on Lucario.

Speaking of, the idea of dragging Lucario out of the afterlife still bothered Ash greatly. But mulling it over, and trying to think of this situation from Lucario's perspective, or at least as close as Ash could imagine how he'd feel about it from what Ash remembered of him… maybe Lucario would actually want to come back, if it meant saving the world.

The timeline they existed in was presently gone. That probably included whatever afterlife Lucario had been sent to, if one existed at all. If the world wasn't saved… Lucario, and everything he died to protect, would be gone forever… his sacrifice would mean nothing.

Maybe it wasn't fair to drag him into this… but nothing about this situation was fair. It was a cruel joke being played on Ash, and the entire world, all for the amusement of some jerk God from another universe.

Maybe he couldn't say with complete accuracy how Lucario would feel about having his mind and soul dragged through space and time to help on a quest to restore the timeline, knowing it would mean he'd lose his life again in the process… but Ash figured…

If he was in Lucario's position… he would certainly agree to help. Even agree that it's what he would have wanted.

So with that, Ash clenched a fist, turned to Brock with a look of utmost seriousness and, though briefly hesitant, told him with total honesty "I understand what you're saying… but I'm sure Lucario would still want to help us. At least he'd get a few more years to live and enjoy life… and we need all the help we can get. Lucario's a strong Pokemon… who knows, with his help I might be able to win a few of the Leagues I lost last time. I know he's probably going to die again either way, but… if that's how it has to be, I'd like to still have him by our side. Give him a chance to help us out… I sure don't want to risk watching him die the same way, or just leave him stuck in that staff while we're in this timeline, if we can help it"

Brock took a while to respond, just quietly staring at Ash in contemplation for a while. Eventually however he gave Ash an approving nod "Fair enough. I respect that decision"

Ash sighed, smiling weakly at Brock.

Misty suddenly piped up "December 14th, you said we should go to Rota? Right?"

Brock nodded, and Misty placed her right hand over the side of her face and hummed thoughtfully.

"I don't know if we'll even get there in time. Who knows where we'll be by December… we'd probably have to miss out on meeting Santa Claus, unless we REALLY booked it to get to whatever beach Jynx wound up on by Christmas eve"

Ash frowned in disappointment at that suggestion. He sighed and shook his head "Well… we don't know if Jynx would end up on that beach again, but I'm sure Lucario's still in that staff… I guess I'd rather remind him than Santa, if I had to choose"

"You could always just compete in the tournament when you were supposed to" Misty pointed out the obvious.

Ash shrugged "The more tries we have, the better probably… I don't want to risk losing the next tournament we could go to while I'm challenging the Battle Frontier this time, and then Lucario does just end up stuck in the staff until the world goes back to normal" He scratched his head, a lightbulb going off in it "I could try writing a letter to Santa explaining everything that's going on if we miss Jynx this time. I could ask to meet him and give him his memories back then?"

"I'm sure that would be a very interesting letter for him to read" Brock said in a deadpanned voice. He shook his head "We have plenty of time yet for you to make up your mind on all this. I suggest really thinking things over, and only going ahead with this "Remind Lucario" idea if you're REALLY sure at the end of the day it's worth going through with. At any rate, we have a date for when we could go get him out of that staff if you want to, so no need to rush into things"

Ash considered it for a minute, then realized that Brock might have a point. Maybe he shouldn't rush to a decision. Perhaps he'd feel differently about the morality of the whole scenario of restoring Lucario's memories after a few months of thinking things over and getting more perspective on this altered world, and what it meant to set it all back to how it once was.

At any rate, it was all causing his head to thump a little at this point, so maybe it was time for a change of subject at least.

"Is there anything else we should maybe do differently this time around?" Ash asked. Brock, Misty and Pikachu scratched their chins, thinking it over for a moment.

"… Probably…" Brock said, suddenly letting out another loud yawn. The reminder of his recent sleep deprivation made him groan "… Of course, maybe my head's just not clear enough to consider that right now"

"Yeah, I think we've done enough planning stuff out for today" Misty concluded "Maybe we should just focus on getting to Cerulean City, and finding Charmander and the other Pokemon before worrying anymore about this stuff. I mean, we are on a ticking clock until the next League takes place… it's almost a year off sure, but the time can pass a lot quicker than you'd think"

"Oh right, Charmander!" Ash jumped in his seat, nodding vigorously at Misty "Yeah, uh, right. Let's focus on what's in front of us right now… "

And with that decided, Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all took deep breaths and exhaled loudly, the former three sitting back in their seats and just quietly contemplating everything that had been discussed. After a good three minutes of increasingly awkward silence, Ash finally returned Butterfree to his pokeball and let out a frustrated grunt.

"I already can't wait until this is all over" Misty muttered.

"Same" Brock and Ash chanted, Pikachu offering a disgruntled "Pika!" In agreement.

"Nothing we can do but ride it out, for the moment anyway" Brock said sardonically, scratching his neck "… Like I said, I'll check the Pokemon Center's website later and try and figure out a roadmap for finding out where Charmander might be. For now, I guess the two of you should go shopping for pokeballs and whatever else you might need. I'll pack food, medicine and other stuff we'll all need for the trip. I should have enough money in my savings to keep restocking supplies until we get to Celadon City, at least, but I suggest you keep winning gym matches and maybe some local tournaments and stuff along the way for prize money, Ash. We'll need it"

"I'll help with that" Misty chimed in, earning a grateful nod from Ash.

"I wonder what Angie's going to think of all the crazy stuff we've got here in Kanto" Ash wondered aloud, prompting a small laugh from Brock.

"We'll find out. I'm sure she can handle herself just fine, though. She was as headstrong as you from what I remember, after all" Brock told Ash with a teasing smile. Misty raised an eyebrow at him, and then groaned playfully.

"So she's liable to get us all killed doing something crazy every week, then?" Misty quipped. Ash glared at her, and Misty stuck her tongue out in a manner that reminded him of Lana whenever she was messing with people.

Misty then looked thoughtful for a minute "It's gonna feel a bit odd though, travelling with someone new… apart from Tracey and I guess Todd for a while, I'm not used to going on a long trip with people besides you guys and my sisters. Should be an experience, having another girl to talk to through all this"

"I'm sure you two will get along great" Brock said with a smile "Snark aside, Angie was a pretty interesting and likeable person. She can command Pokemon pretty well too, so she'll definitely come in handy fighting Team Rocket or whoever"

"I just hope she's not as shopping crazy as most of the girls I know, otherwise I'm not looking forward to the Princess Festival this year with the both of you around" Ash grumbled, a disgruntled look on his face that made Misty laugh sarcastically.

"Is that all then, or is there anything else we ought to do before we head out later?" Misty asked. Ash thought about it for a moment, then jumped slightly in his seat.

"Oh right, I never called Professor Oak back yesterday!" Ash said, slapping himself. He looked at Brock "I was going to call him when you were with us, and you're here now, so-?"

"Yeah, alright" Brock nodded "He'll probably have some good advise for what we should do going forward, too"

And so with that the trio rose to their feet, Pikachu bouncing out of Misty's arms and onto the table before leaping onto Ash's shoulder before the group made their way to the video phones.

* * *

_***Professor** **Oak's** **laboratory,** **Pallet Town, 10.40am***_

Professor Oak entered his home through the back door, his trousers and the bottom half of his lab coat covered in mud. He heaved a heavy sigh as he pulled off the lab coat and put it on a coat hanger, then wobbled around a bit as he approached a nearby Sofa and collapsed on it.

"I'll REALLY be glad when Tracey and Bulbasaur get here. Curse this frail body… I was so much more fit in the old timeline, I don't get how four years can make such a difference…" The old man complained.

The Professor had just spent the whole morning feeding the many dozens of Pokemon kept at his ranch, fixing fences, getting a start at digging a new pond for the water Pokemon and having to break up at least six fights over food, territory or some other disagreement in the process. He'd gotten flung through the air at one point by a rather agitated Machop punching him in the chest when he had lectured it about not bullying smaller Pokemon like Rattatta and Oddish.

It was pretty exhausting, and he still wasn't even finished with the morning chores!

The Professor rolled his eyes, stroking the part of his stomach where Machop had struck him. Samuel Oak loved his job, loved interacting with Pokemon, looking after them and learning new things about them through daily interaction. Pokemon were his passion, and furthering people's understanding of them, including his own, through exploring the bonds they shared with humans was something he was immensely proud and satisfied to have dedicated his life to.

But gosh darn it. On days like this, Oak really had to stop and ask himself why in Arceus' name he never thought to hire an intern before Tracey conveniently showed up with Ash after his Orange Island adventure, and why in this timeline he still hadn't hired one despite being nearly a decade older than when Tracey came along.

He may not be decrepit, but Samuel certainly couldn't imagine he would be able to reasonably handle Ash's thirty Tauros whenever they got sent over and started stampeding around his ranch every twenty minutes with no regard for what was in front of them.

It wasn't like he couldn't afford to hire an intern, or a couple of assistants like Cerise and several of his colleagues in other regions had. He may not have been rich, but as a world renowned top Pokemon scientist with many friends in high places, Professor Oak's budget wasn't stretched so thin he couldn't afford to pay one or two people a good living wage.

True, in this reality Daisy would frequently come along in the afternoons and on weekends and offer to help him out with the more physically strenuous daily routines, but it wasn't her job (That was working part time at Delia's restauraunt while she was still figuring out what her long term goals would be) and Oak had always stressed the importance of her having a social life and stuff to concern herself with outside of helping with his research and caring for the Pokemon at the ranch if she eventually decided against taking over the family business.

So, while he was definitely grateful for her assistance (even if he'd been awkwardly trying to avoid having lengthy discussions with her the past few days, for... mental health reasons), it wasn't really the same thing as having a full-time, committed assistant.

So what was really stopping him from hiring some regular helpers?

Pride, he surmised. Definitely pride, probably mixed with a sense of denial over the fact that he was, actually, an old man now.

The Professor chuckled to himself and smacked his head.

"I guess I can't ever claim with a straight face that Gary's ego came out of nowhere" Professor Oak quipped. His laughter was cut short by a fresh spasm of pain in the center of his body, causing him to clench his teeth. When it passed the Professor suddenly recalled how exhausted his limbs still felt, and he cursed himself for being so careless.

Then again… maybe this version of his body normally wasn't so easily exhausted, actually, and the main reason he was really feeling his age the past few days had more to do with stress.

Because oh boy, had he been stressed out this week.

The whole jumbled memory problem wasn't actually bothering him AS much at the moment (He still couldn't tell which version of his life something like fourty percent of his recollections belonged to), usually now his angst over that was reserved for the silent hours in bed before an uneasy sleep finally took hold of him.

What was causing the Professor daily grief, and had also inspired him to later that evening book an appointment with his doctor after he was sure he'd come dangerously close to having a heart attack over it after finding that note on the ground, was the theft of his own grandson's starter Pokemon right out from under his own nose.

It had taken the professor a good twenty minutes and several bites to both ankles from the Charmander Terry would never show up to collect before Oak had even been able to get over the shock over having been burgled to be able to speak coherently enough to phone the police, and have an Officer Jenny dispatched to investigate his lab and file a case.

Most unfortunately, it appears that along with obliterating the window of his lab (Through which he had to assume the thief had snuck in while he was elsewhere), Pikachu's thundershock earlier that day had taken out the labs security cameras, so he failed to catch the thief on camera.

And worse still, several days later the police seemed to have barely any leads, the most any of Pallet Town's residents could report that seemed suspicious was a few people having briefly caught sight of a brown haired teenage girl in a black dress that none of the townsfolk seemed familiar with sneaking around the outskirts of the town that morning and the previous day.

Which certainly gave the detectives and officers assigned to investigate the burglary something to look out for, but so far he'd heard of no significant developments.

It horrified Samuel, the very idea that someone could just waltz into his lab and steal a Pokemon, any Pokemon, right from under his nose. He felt no end of personal shame that it had been the beloved starter Pokemon that in their past lives Gary had raised to its final stage, but all of the Pokemon left in his care were precious to the old man. Even the ones that belonged to wandering trainers from Pallet he cared for like they were a part of his family.

And knowing Squirtle was out there somewhere in the hands of a crook, using him for who knows what purpose or possibly abusing the poor Pokemon in some way… it was just…

He felt so helpless. So stupid and useless for failing to prevent such a catastrophe. The past five days, hindsight had been bludgeoning him with new reasons to feel guilty over the incident. The main one right now being: why had he not installed a better home security system BEFORE Squirtle was stolen? He'd had one installed as of yesterday, but it hardly did him any good AFTER a pokemon had already been kidnapped.

What especially baffled him about Squirtle's theft though was that note that had been in the Pokeball left in place of Squirtle's own. And how the burglar had seemingly jokingly proposed that they may, or may not return Squirtle at a later date.

What possible reason could anyone have for stealing a Pokemon… temporarily?

The police had been quite thorough in their search of Oak's laboratory and the rest of his home: Nothing else had been taken. Not any of his valuables, not his research papers or any of his Pokedexes (Though maybe that was because they were locked up in a box that required a key he carried with him in his pocket… a pity really, if for whatever reason the thief had taken one of those it would be something to possibly track them with if the thief activated the device). Not even Charmander's Pokeball, or any of the pokeballs in the back room containing Pokemon that hadn't been let out for their daily exercise yet.

Why would anyone sneak into his own home without the Professor noticing, just to steal one Pokemon? Did they even mean to steal Squirtle specifically, or just any of the starter Pokemon? The thief said in the note that they needed to borrow it for "Something important"… but what did they mean by that? What could be so urgent as to motivate a person to steal a starter Pokemon from a lab?

Professor Oak furrowed his brow at the thought of it all. He could only hope that whatever the thief was doing, Squirtle was being at least reasonably well looked after for the time being.

Gary was due to leave on his journey in two days, having finally gotten over his case of the flu, and he would most likely be leaving with the Charmander that remained in Oak's care. He had been pretty angry and indignant that his choice of starter Pokemon had been swiped away, and even vowed to drag the thief to jail himself if he got his hands on them.

Samuel wondered just how much worse he was going to take it whenever Ash got around to restoring his memories of the old timeline…

"RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!"

Professor Oak's eyes twitched.

_'I don't know why I never changed that ringtone. That tune somehow does a better job at driving me up the wall than the memory restoration'_

Forcing himself to his feet and shaking off the ache in his middle section, Professor Oak dragged himself into his lab and checked the caller info on the screen of his video phone. No name, but it was coming from a Pokemon Center so it had to be one of the Pallet Trainers that usually left their reserve Pokemon at Oak's Ranch. And the old man bet himself a million Poke dollars it was going to be Ash.

As it turned out when he answered the call, it was Ash. With Brock and Misty in tow, no less.

Despite all the stress he'd been under, Professor Oak couldn't help but smile and wave at the friendly faces "Ah, Ash. I see you met up with Brock after. I take it you're familiar with me, right?"

"If you mean I remember everything, then yes" Brock said with a nod, smiling back at the professor, as did Misty.

"It's good to see you, Professor. How've… how've you been?" Misty asked. She was putting on a friendly face, but the concern in her voice made it evidence to the professor that Ash had probably recounted how shaken up he had been over his memory restoration to her. Samuel did appreciate the sympathy, and gave her a curt nod and the warmest expression he could muster.

"Oh… fine… mostly…" The Professor lied. He could tell none of the three youths (Or… maybe that word wasn't appropriate for Brock anymore. He looked very much like an adult this time around, on close inspection) were buying it, so Oak quickly shook his head and spoke to them all in a more serious tone "Oh, all right, I guess I shouldn't hold off on this anyway… have either of you seen a teenage girl with long brown hair and a black dress travelling with a Squirtle? Or just… anyone else that looks suspicious at all? I mean, besides Team Rocket"

Ash, Brock and Misty all exchanged curious looks, worried frowns forming on their faces. Pikachu muttered something from Ash's shoulder that got Ash to look even more nervous, and the trainer turned back to the screen to address Oak's question "Um… no… why do you ask?"

Samuel heaved a heavy sigh, crossing his arms "Because someone, possibly fitting that description I gave you but we're not certain, stole Gary's Squirtle the day you left"

The three trainers all simply stood motionless and stared at the screen at first, then Pikachu actually fell off Ash's shoulder right before the trio all let out shocked exclamations, looking frantic.

"WHAT?!" Ash screamed, leaning into the phone screen so that it now only showed his horrified, and also passionately angry, face "How… why… who would… THAT'S TERRIBLE!"

"You're telling me" The Professor said, sadly rubbing his head. Ash leaned back from the screen, allowing Misty and Brock to come partially back into view, both looking at Oak with as much concern as Ash.

"Terrible is right, I'm so sorry Professor" Misty said, looking very much like she wanted to punch the Squirtle thief.

"The police are on the case. With any luck they'll catch the thief soon… but I doubt it'll be straight away" Professor Oak said bitterly "I just thought I should let you all know… weirdly, the thief implied that they might return Squirtle on their own eventually. They left a note saying they needed to "Borrow" it for some kind of important purpose they couldn't mention, and that I might get it back eventually"

Ash, Brock and Misty all looked as utterly perplexed at that information as the Professor himself was.

"That's… very curious" Brock said, scratching his chin and looking to be deep in thought.

"Whether they meant to return it or not, stealing a Pokemon is still a horrible thing to do" Misty said with some contempt. Ash nodded at her, looking very much in agreement.

"Do you need us to go catch this person and get Squirtle back then?" Ash asked, sounding ready to go.

"I wouldn't suggest investing too much time into it" Professor Oak shook his head "I would have asked you to if I'd realized it by the time you called me at the Viridian Center, but when I realized what happened afterwards I was out of it for a while… I regret not calling you now, but that's hindsight for you. But right now I have no idea where the thief is or what direction they went in, they could be in Pewter City right outside that Pokemon Centre you're calling from, or they could be at Tojo Falls by now for all we know"

"We could still try!" Ash said with the level of fiery determination Oak expected him to have about a subject like this. Normally the Professor would shake his head while secretly admiring Ash's youthful spirit, but right now was a time to be serious.

"Search around Pewter City for the rest of the day if you want, that would certainly be helpful" Oak replied, giving Ash a look of authority "But there really isn't much else I think you can do at the moment. The police are on the case, people with training in tracking down criminals like this that you all don't have. I understand how horrifying and frustrating this situation is, believe me a part of me wants to be rushing around hunting the thief down myself too. But I'm sure there are other urgent matters that you all have to attend to right now, am I right?"

Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder as the headstrong teenager looked uncomfortable and conflicted, like he knew what the Professor was telling him was true but the overwhelming instinct he seemed to possess that was always urging him to help everyone else with their problems was still screaming at him to go save Squirtle right now.

"Well… we do really need to find Charmander" Ash admitted.

Samuel recalled that Ash's Charizard had originally belonged to a trainer called Damian before he met it as a Charmander, an abusive pest of a boy who had told Charmander to wait on a rock for him to come back while having no intention to ever return to retrieve him.

An utterly shameless, callous act that really warranted a phone call to Officer Jenny, in the Professor's opinion, but he supposed Charmander blasting Damian in the face with flamethrower was decent karma aswell.

"Then let that be your primary focus for the time being. Keep an eye out for this thief, and if you encounter them and think you can retrieve Squirtle I won't tell you not to do so. Though I'd advise you be careful, for all we know it's not actually a teenage girl we're dealing with and the thief could be someone very dangerous, and your Pokemon aren't at their peaks right now"

Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty all still looked very concerned, but after exchanging grimaces they all seemed to resign themselves to the possibility the situation really was out of their hands for the time being. Though Oak knew that wouldn't stop them all from trying their best to ensure Squirtle's safety anyway.

"Does Gary know about this?" Ash asked tepidly. Pikachu gave a concerned "Pika pika"

"Of course" Oak sighed "He's not happy about it, but he's determined to go on his journey anyway. He'll just have to start out with a Charmander this time until we can get Squirtle back. He'll be leaving in two days. I can't say when you'll most likely bump into him, but I'll keep you updated on where he's going whenever he calls"

Ash's shoulders sagged and he let out a nervous groan "I almost hope it takes a while. I don't know how I'm going to apologize to him for this whole mess if we don't get Squirtle back for him by then"

"It's really not your fault Ash. No one could have predicted something like this would happen. This is all on the Beyonder, not you" Brock said wisely, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder that Pikachu wasn't perched on.

Oak gave Brock an encouraging nod "Exactly. I doubt Gary is going to be mad at you for this, Ash"

Ash smiled half-heartedly for a moment, scratching his head awkwardly. Brock frowned thoughtfully and asked "Why's Gary only leaving in two days, anyway?"

"Oh, just a case of the flu. It's all good now" Oak replied.

"Ah, I thought it seemed odd I haven't seen him this time" Said Brock, scratching his head curiously "… Or any of the other trainers from Pallet besides Ash, now that I think about it?"

"Amagi got attacked by the Spearow flock and elected to stay home longer, still hasn't left again I don't think. And Terry was too lazy to set off on a journey this time" Oak said, rolling his eyes at the mention of the male trainer. He rubbed the sides of his head with both hands, groaning internally "Makes me wonder if the only reason this didn't happen last time was that all four new trainers actually did show up at a reasonable time, or if the thief only made this attempt in this timeline"

Ash put on a disturbed scowl at the implications of that suggestion, his right hand darting to Pikachu's head to pet the yellow mouse whose eyes had turned completely white and expanded in horror.

A long, awkward silence followed where the Professor's eyes kept drifiting around his lab, as neither he nor the two teenagers and one adult on the other side of the video screen seemed to know how to further the discussion they were having. Eventually Oak returned his gaze to the phone screen, and after a few seconds of just observing the anxious grimaces on Ash, Brock and Misty's faces he let out a quick, mirthless laugh.

"Life isn't fair, I know. But this situation is out of our control for the moment, frustrating as it is we really do need to just let things run their course and hope the police find the thief as soon as possible, or that we at least find a lead on Squirtle's whereabouts. If something comes up I'll let you know, and hopefully we can resolve the problem then, but right now you all need to focus on things that are in your control" The Professor explained in a somber, matter of fact tone. He cleared his throat "Speaking of, is there anything either of you need from me?"

Misty, Brock and Ash looked uncertainly between themselves, and after a brief pause they all shrugged.

"Give us a minute. It's hard to remember now after such a bombshell" Misty answered.

The Professor chuckled darkly and nodded in response. Brock held up a notebook he had been carrying and stared contemplatively at it for a moment before his face lit up in realization.

"Oh yeah. Can you call the Pokemon Institute and ask them to run a thorough background check into a blond haired woman called Domino that works for them. She's an elite member of Team Rocket" Brock said.

Professor Oak scratched his chin "Really? I'll definitely see what I can do about that. The more leads we have to valuable Team Rocket agents, the better" The professor snapped his fingers and fixed Ash with a prying look "I just recalled. You're going to want to catch all your Tauros at the Safari Zone again, correct?"

Ash simply nodded in response, surprised by the serious and foreboading look the Professor gave him right after.

"Well then, I advise you all start training like crazy. You're going to have to fight for the privilege of going there again" Professor Oak said, earning uneasy and befuddled looks from Ash and his friends. Oak cleared his throat once more and elaborated "You once told me that you, Brock and Dawn all competed in the Hearthome City Tag Team Tournament, correct? Well, in this reality they hold a similar event in Kanto once every three years in Saffron City. Guess what the prize is"

Ash and Brock looked at each other, both frowning thoughtfully and mulling it over. Misty was the first to come up with an answer.

"They let you go to the Safari Zone?" Misty asked uncertainly. Ash, Pikachu and Brock blinked at her as the Professor nodded in confirmation.

"Correct. And in this reality, winning the Tag Battle Tournament is the ONLY way to gain access to the Kanto Safari Zone" The Professor said sternly. Brock and Misty's eyes widened and they both looked worried, though not nearly as much as Ash who let out a noise that reminded the professor of a wounded Houndour.

"WHAT?!" Ash exclaimed, putting his face right up to the screen again "Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm not kidding" Oak replied bluntly, crossing his arms and giving Ash the most "Strict Teacher" look of authority he could muster "Frankly it always baffled me that the Safari Zone allowed so many trainers to go in with thirty Pokeballs and catch as many Pokemon as they could, surely that would deplete the Pokemon population of the whole area pretty rapidly. The methodology this time does make more sense. But it does make things far more complicated for you, unfortunately. The next Tag Team Tournament would probably happen around the time you'll be challenging the Battle Frontier again at least, so I should warn you now: if you're serious about recapturing your Tauros, I advise you go into that Torunament with every intent to win, or you may never have the chance to get all thirty of them again in this timeline"

Ash retreated from the screen once more and let out a deep, frustrated groan, looking scandalized. Pikachu made a less dramatic groan, while Brock and Misty just nervously scratched their elbows. The Professor felt a lot of sympathy for Ash, and for the Tauros themselves.

As much trouble as they could all be, the old man was rather fond of the stampeding bulls and the ranch felt oddly still and quiet without them. Even if it would only be until reality was restored most likely, the prospect of just not having them around was pretty sad.

"When'd you say this tournament was again, Professor?" Brock suddenly inquired.

"I… think the twenty fifth of July? Or, sometime late in that month, I dunno you can check online" The Professor shrugged "You have just over three months to get ready for it, at any rate. I can't say who'll be competing in it altogether, the entry numbers vary wildly each year, oftentimes veteran trainers compete and sometimes a lot of them don't, few people who win the Tournament usually enter again anyway. If you all compete maybe one of you will get lucky and be partnered up with Bruno of the Elite Four"

A moment of silence passed as Ash and his friends all let that information sink in. Ash eventually shook his head wearily.

"I was already getting fed up with some of the changes to this world. But between Sabrina the super criminal, us having no idea where to find Charmander, what happened to Gary's Squirtle, and now I might not even be able to catch my Tauros again… I think I officially hate this reality now" Ash summized.

Professor Oak scratched his head "I don't begrudge you at all for that, my boy" The face of his oldest grandchild flashed in his mind, and the old man put on an uneasy smile "… But, it's not like everything about this life is bad, right?"

"Good or bad, I just want it all to go back to normal as soon as possible" Misty said, rubbing her head tiredly. Oak's awkward smile lessened, and Misty seemed to catch onto how uneasy he felt "Is something wrong, Professor?"

"Eh" Samuel Oak grunted, eyes shifting back and forth nervously for a moment as he struggled to respond. Taking a quick breath, he managed to fake a wide smile and say "Oh, just the same old hang ups, you know. I'll cope"

The three friends didn't look thoroughly convinced by that excuse, and Pikachu especially looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you sure there's nothing else we can do for you Professor?" Ash asked "Even apart from trying to find Gary's Squirtle?"

 _'Do you think you could figure out a way to prevent my granddaughter from being erased from existence when you have Arceus set the world back to its original form?'_ The Professor thought to himself. He shook his head dismissively.

"I… no, Ash. For now just keep retracing your steps, I'm fine handling my own business for the moment" Samuel Oak replied, biting his lip and holding in a heavy sigh.

He wanted very much to plead with Ash to find a solution to his conundrum over Daisy. Wanted very much to bring up the fact that she, and many other individual people, only existed in this particular timeline, and have a frank, hard discussion with Ash over the moral implications of resetting reality…

… But what good would any of that do right now? Ash had so much on his mind right now, even without the two heavy burdens Samuel had just dropped on him. It would be unfair to put Ash on the spot like that so suddenly while he was sorting through his own baggage.

And really, if the esteemed Professor Oak, recognized by many as the smartest professor in Kanto, had no clue what to make of the situation with Daisy and everyone else like her, then how could he expect Ash to have any clue what to do about it?

Maybe if they got in touch with Arceus later on the Alpha Pokemon could concoct a feasible solution, but the Professor had no idea when they would be able to do that.

… They had plenty of time. Winning this bet with the Beyonder would take years, surely there'd be plenty of better opportunities to discuss things further. Ash had no love for this reality right now, but surely the more he travelled and got to know people here the more the implications of what resetting reality again would mean for the denizens of this timeline would sink in eventually.

Did he even remember Daisy yet? Or had any memories associated with her from this timeline not surfaced in his mind? Samuel decided that he should probably make an effort to bring her up somehow before Ash met up with Gary and reminded him… his grandson would be far less… what was the word young people used? 'Chill' about the issue of her not existing anymore with the regular timeline restored.

 _'Maybe I should lay off on Ash for procrastinating on telling his mother about this whole Beyonder nonsense, though. I'm hardly any better'_ Oak half-jokingly thought to himself before clearing his mind and addressing Ash and friends once again "If there's anything you need to talk with me about though, something you think I should be focusing on, let me know before you take off again to Cerulean"

The group of friends all hummed contemplatively for a moment before Pikachu whispered something in Ash's ear that got him to nod along and ask "Do you have any ideas for what we're going to do about Molly and Spencer?"

"Molly and Spencer?" Brock looked confused for a moment.

"Hale, remember. We were talking about this on the way to your house yesterday" Misty said off handedly.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. And Molly's sorta like Ash's sister now, right?" Brock said, chuckling sheepishly as he scratched the side of his head "Don't know how that slipped my mind…"

"It happens, don't think too much of it" Oak said, recalling how he had told a curious child three days ago that Gengar was part fairy type because of his screwed up memories. The Professor resisted the urge to facepalm over the recollection of that blunder and instead inquired of Ash "I assume your question is along the lines of, do we try and stop Spencer and Molly from moving to Greenfield or at least convince Spencer to drop his research into the Unown before he gets kidnapped again, or do we let things play out the way they did originally and fix it the same way when you all get to Johto?"

"Well… basically, yeah" Ash said with a casual shrug.

"We've talked about it a couple times, and we don't really want to put Molly through the kind of grief she went through last time and let all that reality disrupting stuff happen at Greenfield again. But we don't know if simply avoiding anything to do with the Unown would mean we'd never get Molly's mother back for her" Misty explained, putting a hand on her hip and looking frustrated "I guess Molly would get her mother back anyway once the world's back to normal, but it feels like it'd be pretty cruel to deny her and Spencer the chance to have her back in this timeline too while it's around"

"Yes, it's quite a conundrum, isn't it" The Professor nodded, thinking it over for a long moment "… Hmm. Well, let me ask you a question Ash. Do you think you'd be able to remind Spencer and Molly of the timeline we all originally came from, like you did for me, Misty and Brock?"

All eyes were now curiously pointed at Ash, who shifted uncomfortably and scratched his nose, looking very unsure of himself. Eventually he shook his head.

"I don't… really know… I don't think I can, though" Ash said, a troubled frown on his face "… Arceus and the Beyonder said that I can't remind just anyone. They have to be people I know, and had some sort of impact on… maybe I can remind Molly? I talked to her quite a bit at Greenfield. But I don't remember much about Spencer at all, I definitely didn't meet him after the Unown went away. So… yeah, sorry. I doubt it would work"

"Uh huh" Oak nodded, having expected as much "Well then in that case… I don't think I can stop Spencer from researching the Unown. I'm convinced a big part of why he got as dedicated to his research as he was the last time was guilt over the disappearance of his wife… the same thing certainly holds true this time around. If I just tell him to cut it out, he'll probably take it very badly and ignore me because he'll think I'm saying figuring out what happened to his wife is a lost cause…"

"And he probably wouldn't believe anything we tell him about our timeline anyway if we can't restore his memories" Brock surmised. The Professor snapped his fingers and pointed at Brock's head on the screen, a look on his face that said "Bingo"

"Not to mention if he did actually believe it, he'd probably just rush to awaken the Unown quicker" Oak said, causing Ash and the others to flinch slightly. The old man scratched his chin and frowned thoughtfully "It's quite a pickle. Spencer's coming home in two weeks, and leaving Kanto three weeks after that. We have very little time to make much of a difference in how their story plays out… and unless we find a way to contact the Unown without getting trapped in their dimension ourselves and get Molly's mother back ourselves, which I'm sorry, I don't have a plan for right now… I think we're kind of stuck here for the moment. I'll contemplate the matter and see if I can come up with something… but perhaps sitting on this one and letting the events play out really is our only option"

Ash, Misty and Brock all exchanged looks of defeat and sighed.

"Pika pi" Pikachu muttered grumpily.

"I was really hoping we could come up with a better plan than that" Said a disappointed Ash.

Professor Oak offered the boy a comforting smile and a casual shrug "We've still got time. An ideal solution could always miraculously drop into our laps… but probably not. Having knowledge about how all the important events of our lives play out for the next couple of years can certainly be useful, but it doesn't make us all magically prepared to effortlessly nip every potential problem in the bud. Even without taking into account how this is a very different version of reality and not everything is likely to play out exactly the same way as we think it will, we were all thrust into this situation with no prep time to plan anything out. I know it's frustrating to keep hearing "Let's just let things play out" but the fact is that simply going through the motions and waiting for a good opportunity really is the only solution to some of these things. At any rate, I have faith you'll resolve the Unown problem again whatever happens and Molly and her family will be fine"

That did seem to renew some of Ash's confidence thankfully.

"You might want to keep in touch with Molly whatever we end up doing. The little dear adores you, and having someone to talk to regularly might ease her loneliness a tad. Who knows, maybe the Unown's reality warping will be less extreme in that case, if nothing else" The Professor pondered aloud.

"I was going to" Ash said seriously. The Professor had to chuckle at the look on his face, that sort of protective older sibling scowl that Daisy always put on whenever Gary was in trouble and needed her to bail him out of it. Whether Ash's memories of this timeline were up to date or not, it seemed clear he was taking quite naturally to his position as honorary big brother.

"Very well then. Let's drop this subject for now, we can pick it up whenever the Charmander situation is resolved, or any of our other more urgent matters. What else do you all want me to try and do for you?" Oak asked.

Ash seemed reluctant at first to really drop the subject, but after rapidly shifting through seven different kinds of frustrated expressions he just shook his head and inquired "Do you think you can call up anyone in Vermilion City and warn them about the St Anne? Team Rocket attacked it when we went on a cruise there the last time around"

"Ah yes, I remember that now" The Professor nodded. After some consideration he said "I'm acquainted with the Captain, so I'll tell him to up security as best he can. And I'll send an anonymous tip off to the Officer Jenny of Vermilion City to be on guard for suspicious individulas when you're on the way, see if that helps. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. Any other Team Rocket schemes coming up I should know about besides the usual Jessie and James endeavors?"

"Butch and Cassidy were running a fake daycare center to steal people's Pokemon sometime before we left for Cinnabar Island…" Brock replied, trailing off for a minute as he looked deeply thoughtful. He glanced at the notebook he was still gathering and then gave an apologetic shrug "I forgot where that was though, I'll check a map of South East Kanto and get back to you sometime. But I think that's the only other major Team Rocket scheme we dealt with our first time travelling Kanto"

"Very well, let me know the town or city they were operating in and I'll look into it in a couple of months, see what we can do" The Professor nodded, motioning for either of the three to continue.

Another moment of silent consideration before Ash asked "Any idea when I can meet Lance yet?"

"He's in Johto at the moment from what I hear. The League's being hush hush about it though, so I assume its G-men business. We could be waiting a while" Oak answered, shaking his head "No need to keep onto me about that one. I'll let you know when I know anything. Or when you're competing in that Tag Team Tournament in Saffron City, I'll try and get away from work and meet up with you for that, and see if we can have a more formal discussion about everything"

"That would be great" Ash nodded, his and his companion's faces all lighting up briefly. He looked upwards and scrunched his nose in contemplation before concluding "Well, in that case, maybe that's enough for now. We should probably get going anyway to try and find Charmander, or that lousy thief that took Gary's Squirtle"

"Yes, that's probably for the best. I do have quite a lot of chores to get through" Oak nodded, giving Ash a serious look before adding "And I'll repeat: Don't stress yourselves out about Squirtle. If you can't find anything yourselves it's not the end of the world… again" He rolled his eyes "Also, I take it you read those articles I sent you over, since you mentioned Sabrina earlier?"

"Most of them" Ash said.

"Well good. I'll send you more if I think of anything else that would be relevant to you, or just useful to know about in general. Call me back and keep me informed of your progress whenever you reach a new city, but otherwise just go at your own pace for now and I'll… well, I'll do whatever I can to support you"

Ash hesitated for a moment as he, Brock and Misty silently mulled over everything that had been discussed. Eventually they all gave the old man grateful nods, and somewhat strained smiles given all that was on their minds, before Ash said "Well, alright then… thanks a lot for everything Professor. We'll talk to you again"

"Safe travels, my boy. Good luck with everything" The Professor said with a smile and a wave. Ash waved back before the Professor hang up the call, the phone screen going black.

Professor Oak took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. Part of him did still feel like he was making a mistake procrastinating on discussing the Daisy Oak issue with Ash, but frankly considering the poor boy had a lost Charmander, a difficult tournament to prepare for in a much shorter amount of time than was surely preferable and a million other issues to worry about, it was surely not the time to start piling his own problems on top of Ash's.

There was also a slight concern that Ash might get hung up with finding Gary's Squirtle and get lost on a wild goose chase and hindering his progress, but Oak was sure the concern for reuniting with his old Pokemon would override that pretty quickly. Or heck, maybe he'd actually find the thief pretty quickly, that would be a welcomed convenience. Ash did have a wonderful talent for running into and foiling the schemes of a wide variety of criminals.

Whatever the case, Samuel knew he would just have to have faith in Ash.

A look of determination spread across the old Professor's face. He gave his limbs a good stretch and cracked his knuckles before marching out the door of his lab, tapping the sides of his face as he passed through the doorway.

_'I think I've done enough moping the last few days. The whole world is counting on me to focus and do my best to support Ash and get him through this crazy misadventure. I'll get these chores out of the way, and buckle down on some serious planning'_

* * *

_***Viridian** **City** **Gym,** **11.30am***_

"Marowak, use bonemerang!"

"Nidoking, use take down!"

The Gym Leader's Nidoking let out a mighty roar and charged forth, seeming to just shrug off the large bone thrown his way as the purple beast struck Marowak with a mighty shoulder tackle, sending Marowak flying straight into his trainer, knocking them both against the wall.

The challenger, a teenage boy with black hair styled in a large ponytail and dressed in a green kimono, shook his head and let out a groan, shaken but not terribly injured from the impact. The same couldn't be said for his partner Pokemon, who he looked down to discover had been knocked out cold by Nidoking's attack.

"Marowak!" The young man known as Otoshi yelped, frantically nudging his partner. Marowak responded to this with a low, strained groan, too weak to move for the moment. Otoshi let out a sigh and returned Marowak with a sad smile on his face "You performed well, my friend. I only regret that I lacked the discipline to steer us to victory"

The young man dressed in samurai garb rose to his feet, and after shaking off the pain in his stomach where Marowak had been sent flying into him Otoshi took several steps forward and bowed to his opponent as a sign of respect.

Sitting in a chair on a balcony on the other side of the room, a brown haired man wearing an orange business suit watched Otoshi bow with a look of indifference. The Gym Leader casually rose to his feet and returned Nidoking to his pokeball, fixing Otoshi with a look that was both firm and devoid of emotion as the young man looked up at him expectantly.

"Hmph" Giovanni grunted, closing his eyes and shaking his head "I suppose I'll give you some credit, that battle was much less boring than all the hopeless rookies I've been forced to deal with in the past two weeks. You actually managed to defeat at least one of my Pokemon"

Giovanni's opened his eyes and then narrowed them at Otoshi, who flinched slightly as Giovanni's tone grew harsher "But you still have a long way to go if you have any ambition of winning my badge. How many did you say you'd acquired, three? Win four more and train until your Pokemon are worth something, and then maybe I'll accept a rematch. Otherwise don't bother wasting my time again, I have better things to be doing than wasting time on trainers I know are beneath me"

Otoshi gulped, clearly somewhat put off and annoyed by the harsh criticism, but nonetheless he composed himself and kept his tone respectful as he clasped his hands together and bowed to the Gym Leader once more "I understand. Marowak, Doduo and the rest of my team and I will train hard and return when we are at our peaks. This battle has taught me much, and for that I thank you"

"You're welcome" Giovanni said dismissively, motioning for Otoshi to leave, the look on his face making it clear to the young man he wanted him to do it quickly. With a nod, Otoshi walked out of the Gym at a hurried pace. When the door slammed shut behind him, Giovanni let out a content sigh and retreated through the curtain behind his chair, entering a hallway that would lead him to his private office.

Giovanni didn't much care for his duties as a Gym Leader.

No, that wasn't entirely accurate. The position served him well in scouting promising new talent for Team Rocket, the criminal organisation he secretly operated that was his prime concern, and he enjoyed the various perks that his status would grant him, along with the good publicity. It was crucial for a man in his position to maintain a respectable public image.

Rather, Giovanni didn't care for weaklings. Far too often, especially nearing the start of a new League season, Giovanni was forced to contend with an influx of hapless rookie trainers just starting out on their journeys. Most of them had no clue what they were doing in an official battle other than awareness of a handful of type advantages. It was such a painful waste of time that could be far better spent directing more lucrative schemes.

Giovanni had high standards for the trainers that challenged his gym. Most Gym Leaders kept a rotation of Pokemon of various different evolutionary stages and experience levels, alternating appropriately depending on how many Gym Badges a trainer possessed. Giovanni followed this method like all the rest, but the weakest Pokemon he would use was a Rhyhorn that could still give the Raichu Lt. Surge used against trainers with four badges a good thrashing.

Some called it overkill, including a few of the Gym Inspectors he'd had to accommodate on occasion.

Giovanni called it a reality check. A fine lesson in his opinion for big-headed upstarts that life was rarely if ever fair, and that ambition alone would get them nowhere. Only grueling hard work and the great power that resulted from it, along with a sharp mind that knew how best to direct that strength, would allow a Pokemon trainer to get anywhere in this world.

It was rare that any trainer with less than seven badges would earn an Earth Badge from Giovanni. The rare exceptions he would do everything in his power to curry their favour and sway them to join Team Rocket. And if they proved too morally upright for that, he put them on a watch list of potential victims for his higher class subordinates to mug. Because even if he couldn't have a fine new agent, why waste good Pokemon?

They were far easier to break and mold into living weapons to direct at Team Rocket's enemies, after all.

That boy Otoshi could have perhaps been such a trainer if any of his Pokemon besides Marowak, who had put up an excellent performance against Giovanni's Golem, matched up to the bone-wielder's power. Giovanni suspected that either Otoshi favoured the Marowak and neglected his other Pokemon in turn, or if he did train them all with the same level of conviction perhaps he had simply acquired Marowak while it was already quite powerful and it just had much greater potential.

At any rate, Giovanni didn't expect Otoshi to win against him whenever he did get around to winning seven or more badges to challenge him again if he did not fix that glaring flaw. He supposed he could always find some use for that Marowak someday at least whether Otoshi won or lost, though.

There seemed to be a lack of Marowak and Cubone at his organisation's disposal recently, if Giovanni wasn't mistaken. He should probably send some grunts out to fix that, they could probably round up a good number of them around Lavender Town and the caves North of it.

"Meow" Giovanni's Persian perked up from his bed as his owner entered his office. As Giovanni took his seat by the desk at the back of the room, Persian got up and yawned, giving it's legs a good stretch before wandering over and plopping his head down on Giovanni's lap, staring up at the man expectantly.

A slight smile appeared on Giovanni's face as he gave the feline Pokemon a good pet, but his expression quickly turned cold once more as a beeping sound came from the computer placed on the desk in front of him, a light flashing just above the screen.

Giovanni pressed a button by the side of the monitor, and the face of a purple haired woman with glasses, his secretary Matori, appeared on the screen.

Matori gave Giovanni a curt nod and a salute "I just wanted to inform you that we've received a call from grunt squad J, agents Jessie, James and Meowth. They wish to deliver a progress report. An overdue one at that" Matori muttered the last part under her breath, a condescending frown briefly flickering onto her face before she turned her expression neutral again "Do you want me to transfer the call, or should I put them on hold, sir?"

"Transfer the call, I might as well get it over with" Giovanni sighed lowly, rolling his eyes at the mention of those three clowns. He'd been anticipating a progress report a few days ago, recalling that they planned to ransack a Pokemon Center. Matori hadn't been sure which one they planned to attack, but Giovanni had since heard reports of three Rocket agents making a mess in the Viridian Center recently.

He had every intention to chew them out over that, the last thing he needed was his underlings causing a fuss in his city, that would motivate the police to start hammering down on investigating suspicious activity. Not helpful at all for a gang leader trying to keep a low profile.

Matori nodded at his instructions and reached forward. A second later the screen turned static, and Giovanni assumed a more dignified posture and put on his most threatening scowl. The monitor soon changed to show Jessie, James and Meowth standing in a spotlight in a pitch-black room. The three Rocket grunts saluted Giovanni.

"You're all very late" Giovanni said plainly. The three stooges under his command all faltered, flailing around so badly they nearly fell over. After straightening themselves up they all began bowing in a panic. Giovanni maintained a cold demeanour, but internally he was quite enjoying the sense of fear he inspired in them.

"We're… we're sorry, boss. It was… we ran into some trouble" Meowth said, an unnaturally wide smile on his face as the cat started sweating a bit.

"Oh, really?" Giovanni asked, waving his hand and prompting them to elaborate. The Trio hesitated for a moment before Jessie cleared her throat.

"We regret to inform you that our operation to rob the Viridian City Pokemon Center was a failure. But in our defense, we ran into interference from an enemy we couldn't have planned for" Jessie explained. Giovanni began petting Persian again, raising an eyebrow slightly at the purple haired woman.

"No, really?" Giovanni said, a cruel smirk on his face "What was it this time? Was Agatha of the Elite Four passing through town and I missed the memo, or did a random trainer visiting the center have an Ursaring on hand and you all thought you could incapacitate it by throwing a Butterfree net over it's head and putting oven mits on it? Or am I thinking of last month's failed mission with that last one?"

The Trio all shifted uncomfortably at Giovanni's mocking tone, James offering him a shrug and a sheepish grin "Actually, it was Sonic the Hedgehog"

Persian let out a painful cry as his master's hand suddenly stopped caressing his head and instead tightly gripped his fur. For a brief moment Giovanni's eyes widened, an uncharacteristic expression of pure horror that neither Jessie, James nor Meowth had ever seen from him before on his face. The mob boss caught himself quickly and instead put on an absolutely furious scowl that was far more familiar to his underlings.

"WHAT?!" Giovanni roared, causing all three Rocket agents to jump backwards in fright, briefly obscuring themselves from view as they inched out of the spotlight in the dark room they were in. They quickly scurried back into view, scratching their heads impishly "Sonic the Hedgehog! Are you sure?!"

"Are there any other blue hedgehogs with super speed that we outta know about?" Meowth quipped, shrugging half-heartedly. An apologetic look appeared on his face as Giovanni narrowed his eyes at him, and the cat shrunk back behind Jessie's legs.

"Yes, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. He appeared out of nowhere in a flash of light and tied us up, and then left us for Officer Jenny. We managed to escape with some difficulty, fighting our way past a squad of elite officers and making a dash for our balloon. We don't know where Sonic is at the moment though, unfortunately" James explained in a calm, even tone that didn't match up at all with the anxious look on his face.

Giovanni took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"And why in the world am I only finding out about this now?" Giovanni demanded. His frown intensified as the trio of Rocket's all gulped and exchanged awkward looks, as if begging one another to come up with a decent excuse.

"We're… we're very sorry, boss" Jessie said, bowing curtly and sweating bullets "We… w-wanted to… we were being closely followed by the police for a while, and we wanted to make sure Sonic wouldn't find us again after we lost them. A lot of… um… complicated things happened, and we weren't able to contact you until we arrived here in Hop Hop Hop Town. Please forgive our tardiness"

"Apology not accepted" Giovanni simply replied. Jessie, James and Meowth let out high-pitched squeals and dropped to their kneels, grovelling pitifully. Giovanni rolled his eyes in disgust and shook his head "… But regardless of how long it took you to report this, Sonic the Hedgehog being in Kanto IS vital information that I was not previously privy to. So I'll let you off with a stern warning this time"

The Trio of grunts looked up at Giovanni with blank expressions for a moment, seemingly stunned speechless that they'd been spared from punishment. Then their eyes started watering and they all started bowing repeatedly, chanting "Thank you, thank you boss!" Giovanni just groaned internally, struggling not to let his disgust show through his scowl.

Giovanni cleared his throat loudly, getting the Trio to cease their groveling and jump to their feet in attention. Giovanni put his hands together and glared expectantly at his subordinates "Tell me the full details. What did the hedgehog say? Do you know why he was there?"

The Trio exchanged odd looks, and given the awkwardness on James's face for a moment and the way the other two looked at him Giovanni could swear something happened that they had no intention of telling him about.

Could have to do with the obvious lie about the three of them fighting their way through a squad of elite officers, maybe it was James' idea? It was likely something embarrassing along those lines, they were too loyal and pathetically spineless to keep anything that mattered a secret from him. And if he found out they had, Giovanni would have them all beaten to within an inch of their lives.

Giovanni tapped his hand against his knee, quickly growing bored of the trio's protracted silence as they just started looking thoughtful for a moment, when Meowth finally responded to his questions "He didn' really say too much. Jus' dat he wuz passing through, saw our balloon floating by and decided ta stop us. He didn't want Nurse Joy to tell Officer Jenny he was dere, for some reason, which I guess is kinda suspicious. But apart from dat, he just made some bad quips and gave us a standard hero lecture, and then took off sayin' he was gonna search the place for more Team Rocket agents. Dat's about all we knows, we didn't see him again"

Giovanni hummed loudly, closing his eyes for a moment and mulling that information over. He opened his eyes in response to a curious meow from Persian, who he sent a warning look to.

Persian flinched, carefully retreating back to his cat bed. It was rare Giovanni gave him such an aggressive look, but Persian knew it meant to stay well away until his master calmed down if he knew what was good for him.

Giovanni watched Persian skulk off for a moment before shifting his glare to the screen showing the Rocket Trio. In a stern tone he said "Very well. You can send the rest of your report to Matori, and I'll read through the full details later. For now, your orders are to lay low and not draw attention to yourselves, do you understand?"

Jessie, James and Meowth looked back curiously at him.

"I… yes, of course. But… why?" James asked, and Giovanni mused it was really fortunate he and the other stooges weren't in the same room so he wouldn't have to throw a paperweight at his head.

"Sonic the Hedgehog is the most dangerous known threat to Team Rocket as an organisation. Even the G-men are more manageable, the only force in this world that could wipe us out faster if they had time to do so are the Power Rangers" Giovanni explained "Until we know for sure what he's doing here in Kanto, and what his objective is, it is imperative that we all suspend our current operations to not risk confronting Sonic until he's either left the region, or we have a way to monitor his movements and counter him. All previous confrontations between Sonic and our Johto Team Rocket cells ended in disaster, we can't afford to suffer similar losses here in our home region"

The Trio all looked very nervous at that, clearly as shocked as he was that they were all lucky enough to even be in a position to report back their run in with the blue blur. They all slowly nodded in understanding and saluted Giovanni.

"U-understood, sir" Jessie said, trying to look and sound dignified. Giovanni had to admit, she was at least better at it than her teammates "We'll lay low for now, and resume operations when it's safe. If we see Sonic again though, we'll report it back to you… will there… is there anything else you want us to do, boss?"

"Just don't do anything stupid" Giovanni said crossly. He rolled his eyes "Difficult for you three, I know. Do whatever you want as long as you're undercover and not causing a fuss until I give the order it's safe to resume your normal operations. If you catch any useful wild Pokemon send them over, but don't go stealing anything or breaking into any more Pokemon Centers, or do anything to draw attention to yourselves. I still expect regular weekly updates of your movements, and if the situation escalates in a manner that would put Team Rocket as a whole in jeopardy, I'll order you all to return to headquarters"

"Sir, yes sir!" The Trio responded. Giovanni gave them a curt nod and quickly turned off the computer, releasing a loud groan of frustration as the screen went black.

Sonic the Hedgehog… in Kanto.

If Giovanni were the kind of man who allowed himself to get desperate he might have tried to write off the whole idea as just a crazy cover story the Trio had come up with to downplay another one of their bumbling screw ups, but it actually made sense.

The report he'd looked into of what happened at the Viridian Pokemon Center on Saturday night was suspiciously vague about how the invading Team Rocket agents had been initially captured, with the Nurse Joy apparently refusing to make the details public beyond it was supposedly a citizen's arrest. The only other people in the Center at the time were two teenagers, both of whom were apparently rookies. Giovanni wouldn't put it past those three idiots to lose to beginner trainers, but if they had been the ones to foil the scheme why was that not reported?

So, going by their testimony, Sonic had just been stalking his City and keeping an eye out for Team Rocket agents. Giovanni grit his teeth, infuriated by how vulnerable that made him feel.

For the past six years, since the day Sonic became a world renowned hero by defeating that lunatic scientist from Johto, Giovanni had been keeping a close eye on the super-speeding hedgehog, even moreso when he started meddling in the affairs of his agents in Johto.

The hedgehog was like a force of nature, more powerful than any non-legendary Pokemon he'd ever heard of, and crafty as all hell. No matter what tactics, powerful Pokemon or advanced weaponry his elite agents had thrown at him, the Mobian speedster seemed to blast his way through all of it with practically no effort.

Within just four years, half of the Johto branch of Team Rocket had been desecrated. It was nothing short of a miracle the Mahogany Branch still managed to hold out.

The only thing that seemed to stop Sonic and his band of Freedom Fighters from flushing Team Rocket out of Johto completely seemed to be the fact that he was frequently getting wrapped up in continuous battles against Dr Eggman and various other villains, sometimes even travelling to regions further away in the process.

By some stroke of luck, he had only travelled to Kanto once in the time since the great war in Knothole, and even then not for long, and Giovanni had frequently pulled every string he could to help keep it that way by orchestrating further distractions.

But it had been months, nearly half a year even since Dr Eggman had last enacted some kind of crazy scheme, and outside of Lord Zedd and Rita's continued assaults on the Hoenn Region that the Power Rangers normally dealt with themselves, there wasn't a lot of super villain activity going on in most regions recently, just the normal kind of crime orchestrated by the likes of Team Rocket and it's various rival gangs, and freelance criminals like Pokemon Poachers.

It was only a matter of time, really, before the lull in world-threatening chaos led Sonic straight to Giovanni's doorstep. He'd been dreading and planning for a large-scale confrontation between the Freedom Fighters and Team Rocket since day one, knowing the day would come eventually so long as the damn hedgehog continued to draw breath.

It was highly likely that he was here for Eggman, of course. There had been rumblings and vague rumours in the criminal underworld that the mad scientist might have been operating around here, but his spies had had a hard time verifying it. If Dr Eggman was operating in Kanto, then maybe that would hold Sonic's attention for a while and then Giovanni could orchestrate a way to get him out of the region once the doctor's latest scheme was foiled.

But he couldn't rely on that prediction. Sonic had just been scouting Viridian City for Team Rocket agents, so it was equally possible the lack of activity from his archnemesis had pushed Sonic into joining Lance's efforts to snuff Team Rocket out here in Kanto. And even if Eggman was his primary objective, the hedgehog was drawn to conflict and criminal activity like a Bewear to honey.

All but the most shadowy and undercover of Team Rocket's operations would have to be postponed or abandoned, up to and including the attack he had been planning on the St Anne. Giovanni clenched his fist at the thought of how badly this would impact his organization's annual income, but he wasn't stupid.

Until his chief scientists and strategists came up with proper counter measures for fighting back against the mobian freak, it was in his best interest to not take any unnecessary risks and up surveillance, try and get a read on the Hedgehog's current location and trajectory.

He would definitely need to put pressure on Namba, Zager and his other scientists to speed up progress on their anti-Sonic projects. And perhaps it was time he checked back in with old Dr Fugi and that special project his dear old mother had invested in before her passing.

Giovanni massaged his temples and let out a low, angry groan before turning his computer back on and calling back his secretary.

"Put all of Team Rocket on red alert immediately, Matori. We have an emergency we need to verify"

* * *

 _ ***Hop Hop** **Hop** **Town,** **warehouse** **district,**_ **_that same moment*_**

Jessie, James and Meowth exchanged uncomfortable looks with one another. James scratched his head sheepishly.

"Well… that didn't go as badly as expected" James said in an effort to lighten the mood. Jessie and Meowth just looked downbeat.

"I guess we can't tell him dose fossil Pokemon came from a lab if we're not allowed ta steal anyt'ing at the moment" Meowth said, scratching his chin "Guess we'll be holdin' on ta dem a little while longer than we t'ought"

"That stupid blue hedgehog sure picked an absolutely perfect time to butt into our business" Jessie grumbled, seething over it for a long moment. When she calmed down she looked up thoughtfully, eventually shrugging and turning to her teammates with a scheming grin "On the other hand… if we're effectively off duty until that Sonic guy buzzes off from Kanto, that actually gives us plenty of time to go off and build up our Team for the upcoming decisive Twerp battle without looking like we might be slacking off, so… not a total loss"

"Good way to look at it, I guess" James said, scratching his head and mulling over the boss's instructions. A concerned frown spread over his face "… He wants us to hand over any wild Pokemon we might catch. So, I guess we don't tell him about this team we're building at all?"

"We weren't going to mention the Aerodactyl and other fossil Pokemon we planned to keep for ourselves, so I don't see what difference it makes" Jessie shrugged indifferently.

"Other dan the fact he'll probably get mad we didn't tell 'im and demand we hand over all the strongest Pokemon we end up catchin' if he finds out, ya mean?" Replied a deadpanned Meowth, making Jessie flinch and roll her eyes.

"Then we won't let him find out. It's not like we really got in trouble for all the other times we go against the boss's orders or the rest of Team Rocket. We didn't even suffer retribution for the time we got into a fight with Butch and Cassidy and freed that Lugia, so I hardly think we have much to worry about catching a bunch of wild Pokemon for ourselves. It'd be a benefit to Team Rocket in general if we had stronger Pokemon to act out our schemes with anyway" Jessie reasoned. Meowth looked at her oddly.

"Didn' we get fired soon after dat whole t'ing with the Lugia, though?"

Jessie nearly fell over in shock. She barely managed to straighten herself up and shot back "Well… yes, but we reapplied and got accepted back in. So, it wasn't really an issue, right?"

"We were up ta our necks in dept to da boss for years afterwards. And I think we still are, actually" Meowth pointed out, crossing his arms and giving Jessie a smug frown.

Jessie growled defiantly and threw up her arms "Alright, I GET IT! We've suffered a lot of setbacks. But from now on things will be different" Jessie's lips curled up into a sinister grin, and she cackled in anticipation "Soon we'll have an elite, unstoppable team of Pokemon at our disposal... just as soon as we've finished this"

Jessie clapped her hands together, and suddenly the warehouse that the Rocket Trio had taken refuge in became fully illuminated, revealing a half-finished giant robot modelled after a Bewear, with an appropriately enormous jetpack attached to it's back.

Jessie, James and Meowth took a long moment to admire the current results of their handiwork, which was shaping up to be a perfect recreation of the robot that had given a dreaded Guzzlord a good run for it's money back at the award ceremony for the Alola League.

A most formidable and useful mech that would be. And the Rocket Trio had no doubts that it would easily be able to subdue a bunch of ancient Pokemon.

"Doesn't seem like we'll be able to remain very inconspicuous travelling across the region in this thing, though?" James casually observed.

"Why do you think we built the jetpack? We'll fly it over to Grampa Canyon from high above the clouds, where no one will see us" Jessie answered confidently. She looked down at Meowth with a daring smirk "Got anymore unwanted reality checks?"

"Lots of em, but I'll save dat for the next time somethin' blows up in ya face" Meowth snarked in response. Jessie rolled her eyes, giving the cat a mildly amused glare before rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"In that case, it's right back to work"

* * *

_***Pewter** **City** **Outskirts,** **7pm***_

"Route 3, dead ahead"

Ash stared intently at the sign post for a moment, slowly raising his eyes to look over it out onto the Eastern path leading out of Pewter City.

"Pika _*Well…_ _I_ _guess this is where the real work begins*"_ Pikachu commented from his trainer's shoulder. Ash nodded unconsciously in response before turning around to face Misty and Brock.

The trio had spent the next few hours following their phone call to Professor Oak wandering around Pewter City, asking people if they'd seen a brown haired teenage girl in a black dress or at least someone with a Squirtle that seemed really enthusiastic to get away from them. Their efforts proved largely fruitless.

They did cross paths with one teenager that fit the Professor's description of the Squirtle thief, but ultimately they deduced that she most likely wasn't the culprit, and all that little investigation earned any of them was a good slap to Ash's face (There was still a red mark on his left cheek, actually).

So after sadly accepting the Professor's advise of putting the search for Gary's Squirtle on the back burner for now, Ash, Brock and Misty returned to Brock's family home, where after downloading a pokemon Center related app to Misty's pokegear and planning out a route to try and find the Pokemon Center Charmander would hopefully be found near (Their first stop would be a Centre just past Mt Moon), Brock gave his father a couple of lectures and a long list of instructions to help him look after all of his younger siblings properly.

And now, a long series of hugs and heartfelt goodbyes with said siblings and one last family dinner later, here Ash and his friends were, ready to hit the road.

"You know, all things considered… it is kinda cool to be travelling with you guys again" Ash admitted. He looked away, scratching his head sheepishly "Yeah, I know the reason we're doing this is kinda crazy and serious, and I'm sorry I had to drag you into it… but…"

"I get what you mean" Brock cut him off, a smirk on his face as he too stared into the distance "I'm still not crazy about the timing or the reasons for all of this… but, now that we're about to really get going, it's hard not to feel nostalgic"

"As much as I'm worried about a lot of stuff, I guess I would be lying if I said there's not a bunch of things I'm looking forward to doing with you guys again, too" Misty said, sighing contently. A few seconds of serene silence later she laughed and sarcastically added "Of course, let's not get too nostalgic and get lost on every route"

"I'd say that pokegear of yours would probably keep that from happening…" Ash shook his head and chuckled "… But we'll surely find a way"

The three old friends shared a good laugh at that. When they were finished Ash turned around again to stare at the path leading to Mt Moon, a more serious expression taking over his face as his thoughts returned to more serious pressing issues.

Of Charmander, most likely due to be abandoned sometime in the near future.

Of his herd of Tauros, marching merrily along in the Safari Zone, and the tournament in Sapphron City he apparently had to win to get them all back.

Of the villain teams he had to thwart, and the Leagues he had to win, so that the world home to all the people and Pokemon he knew and loved could have a future.

Ash clenched his fist... and a confident grin spread across his face.

The trials and tribulations ahead worried him… but he was Ash Ketchum. And no matter how daunting the task, or how much grief this new world threw at him, as long as his friends were by his side there was no challenge too daunting to put him down.

"Alright then… here we go!"

And with that declaration, he burst forward like a rocket, Pikachu barely managing to maintain a grip on his shoulder as Ash darted down the path to Route 3 at breakneck speed.

Misty and Brock just stared after him blankly for a moment before sighing in unison, both looking weary yet amused.

"And there he goes…" Brock deadpanned.

Misty rubbed her temples, her lips rising into a playful smirk "Honestly, should we have expected anything else from him?"

"Nope" Brock simply replied before taking after him.

Misty shook her head, shaking her fist and frowning after Ash and Brock in mock disapproval before following their lead.

All of them remained blissfully unaware of the mysterious figure watching them from the rooftop of a nearby Pokemart. She was a tall woman, with long dark green hair and dressed in red.

The woman's cold, piercing blue eyes watched the trio of Ash, Misty and Brock depart with a calculating expression. She pulled out a Pokegear and held it to the side of her face, keeping her predatory gaze locked on the trainers as she spoke.

"Ash Ketchum is leaving Pewter City as we speak. He has both his original companions with him, along with a Pikachu, a Butterfree and a Pidgeotto. He has yet to reunite with the assistant, and will most likely pass through Mt Moon before making his way to Cerulean City" The woman spoke in a calm, even tone. Her voice was soft and devoid of emotion, but carried a certain menacing quality to it that could make an unassuming listeners blood turn cold.

"I see. He's moving a little faster than anticipated" A deep, dramatic voice answered from the Pokegear. There was a thoughtful pause before it swiftly commanded "Keep a close eye on his movements until he reaches the next city. Report all relevant developments immediately. And do try not to snap the boy's neck, we need him alive for the moment... It's no fun if the game ends too quickly"

"Understood, sire" The woman nodded, her cruel gaze focusing on Ash's shrinking figure in the distance. Her eyes glowed purple "There is nowhere he can go where I can't follow"

A portly man dressed in standard hiker gear passed by the Pokemart at that moment, briefly glancing up and spotting the woman on the roof before quickly returning his gaze frontward and walking along. He abruptly stopped after five steps and shook his head, blinking rapidly.

He turned to look at the roof again… only to find nothing was there.

* * *

***Cerulean _City, West Side. Friday_ _April 7th, 12pm*_**

"Poliwhirl, use water gun!"

"Brace through it, Sandshrew!"

A large stream of water struck the yellow pangolin Pokemon dead in the center, and though it seemed to wince slightly at the initial impact, the Sandshrew stood it's ground until the water gun dispersed, looking none the worse for wear.

Much to the shock and amazement of the large crowd of citizens that had gathered around to watch this Pokemon battle. And to the utter bafflement of the bandana wearing trainer commanding the blue tadpole Pokemon.

"What the…" Was all the man could manage to say.

Sandshrew's trainer, a teenage boy with spiky green hair wearing a black and red shirt and blue shorts, smirked victoriously at that outcome. Proof that all their special training had paid off.

"Now use dig!" Aj commanded.

Sandshrew thrust its claws into the ground and started digging, disappearing into the ground in the blink of an eye. Poliwhirl blinked nervously and jumped back, anxiously looking around and trying to feel for vibrations in the ground. It sensed something moving directly beneath it, but before the Poliwhirl could properly jump back Sandshrew burst out of the ground and delivered a harsh uppercut to its center.

Poliwhirl cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, quickly finding itself balancing on one foot. Poliwhirl attempted to right itself and keep battling, but the pain from the dig and the last three attacks Sandshrew had landed proved too much for it and Poliwhirl collapsed on the ground, eyes swirling in defeat.

"Poliwhirl!" The bandana wearing trainer yelled, rushing to check on his fallen partner.  
Aj grinned proudly and gave a hearty laugh.

"And that makes ninety victories in a row! Ten more and we take on the Pokemon League!" Aj declared. He looked down at his Sandshrew, who had rolled up in front of him. With a proud smile he leaned down to address his Pokemon "Terrific work there, partner. Think you can handle another round or two, or should I swap out?"

Sandshrew shook its head and flexed it's arms at his trainer, responding with a determined "Sandshrew, sand!"

Aj laughed, slapping Sandshrew's shoulder "That's the spirit! Keep that up, and we'll be league champions!" He stood tall and addressed the crowd with a proud grin.  
"Alrighty then, who wants to be victory number ninety one!?"

A wave of excited chattering broke out among the crowds, and a few trainers rushed forward to meet Aj's challenge. After shaking hands with the bandana-wearing trainer, Aj accepted a blue haired girl dressed like she was ready for a picnick as his next opponent.

"Boy, people around here sure do love making Pokemon beat each other up" Commented a less involved onlooker, sitting on a table outside of a nearby café.

She was a sixteen year old girl. And she wasn't human.

She was a mobian, a hedgehog to be exact, with pink fur and much shorter quills than Sonic, though her eyes were a similar shade of green. She wore a red dress with a similar coloured headband adorning her head, and she also wore a pair of golden rings around her wrists along with the same white gloves as Sonic and Tails.

Her name was Amy Rose. And she was a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

"Your tea, miss" Said a waiter from the café, carrying a tray with a cup, a saucer of milk and a teapot. He placed the cup on the coaster in front of Amy, then carefully began preparing her tea.

"Thank you very much, sir" Amy said with a polite nod, eagerly holding the cup up to her lips and taking a sip, savouring the taste of the hot liquid in her mouth before swallowing. She gave the cup an approving smile "Delicious"

"Glad you approve, madam" The waiter said with a courteous bow. Amy smiled widely at him before putting the cup back onto the coaster and taking another bite out of the half-finished slice of chocolate cake she had been served earlier. She turned back to the scene of the trainer battle, where Aj's Sandshrew was now squaring off against a Nidorina, the crowds gathered around them roaring with excitement.

Amy furrowed her brow curiously at the scene. She'd seen her share of Pokemon battles on TV and during travels outside of her home region, but it was always an experience to see first hand just how much human cultures adored and reveled in them.

Back in Knothole, Pokemon Training was traditionally discouraged, having actually been illegal for a thousand years in the past in the region. The laws had slowly changed over the past few centuries as Knothole opened up international relationships with the human regions more, and younger generations were starting to take more of an interest in the international battling scene. There had even been talks of hosting the Pokeathlon in Mobotropolis in two years time.

But in general, Mobians still largely had a different view of Pokemon to humans. While Pokemon trainers visiting from other regions were allowed spaces to battle for training purposes, public battles were discouraged and frowned upon, and Mobians rarely kept Pokemon as anything other than pets. And even then only certain kinds, like Meowth, Aipom or Mareep, and they were never kept in pokeballs.

Amy watched as Aj's Sandshrew blinded the incoming Nidorina with a sand attack before striking it back with a powerful tackle, giving the yellow ground type an impressed nod.

Amy herself was mostly in favour of the practise of Pokemon battling. To an extent, anyway.

She'd been around Pokemon enough to know that they were naturally inclined to it, they loved nothing more than getting stronger and it was their favourite form of play. She frowned on Trainers who pushed their Pokemon too far or had their Pokemon battle in overly violent ways, but as long as people mostly understood their Pokemon's limits and the Pokemon themselves clearly enjoyed the fighting, she could see the merits in it.

Though she had a personal policy of delivering a good wallop to anyone she caught daring to abuse their Pokemon. A lot of Team Rocket agents especially could tell you horror stories about their personal experiences with the dreaded "Pink smasher of heads"

Amy turned away from the ongoing battle for a moment to finish her cake, her thoughts turning to why she was here in Cerulean in the first place.

She, Sonic and Tails had crossed the Johto Border and arrived at the Indigo Plateau a few weeks ago now, having heard the reports of Eggman Robots being spotted in the region. Tails had decided to investigate the area around Celadon City, while Amy had spent the past two week investigating the routes between Lavender Town and Cerulean, as well as the area directly North of the city. Sonic meanwhile had mostly just taken to running about all over the place.

So far her investigations had proved mostly fruitless. If Eggman or his robots were operating in the area, they were doing a surprisingly good job of hiding themselves.

Tails had at least been more successful, having picked up a chaos energy signature near Vermillion the other day which led to him and Sonic fighting a pack of powerful Pokemon robots. Nothing quite like any Badniks she or the other Freedom Fighters had fought before by the sound of it, so Eggman definitely had to be lurking around plotting something.

Sonic and Tails had reported in two days ago that they'd met with a member of the G-men named Looker, and that in two days there would likely be a formal announcement to the people of Kanto that Eggman was suspected to be at large in the region. Why they couldn't just do that right away escaped Amy, she was hardly intimidated by most of Eggman's standard robot goons these days with how many she and her friends had smashed the past few years, but she knew Eggman could be extremely dangerous. If people's lives were in danger, why not tell them straight away?

She concluded that politicians and the like were just lazy cowards that valued keeping businesses running as normal over public safety. That was definitely the case in places like Orre and some parts of Unova anyway, so why not Kanto too.

Amy rolled her eyes at the thought of it all as she swallowed her last bite of chocolate cake and took another sip of tea.

Amy herself was supposed to meet up with Sonic and Tails in Saffron City in two days for that announcement actually, but she wasn't in a hurry to leave. She felt rather embarrassed actually that she had so little to report so far, and a bit paranoid that she was missing or overlooking something. So she was going to give it another day of patrolling the area to see if anything came up.

 _'But then again, maybe I'm just being a bit egotistical there. If Eggman and his band of creeps are operating around here, they're being uncharacteristically reserved about it. So it's not like proof is just going to come flying into my face'_ Amy thought to herself.

Well, it didn't fly into her face. Rather, it ran screaming through the nearby gates that led to Route 4 and interrupted the battle the crowd had been absorbed in.

Amy continued sipping her tea curiously as she watched a man with brown hair and glasses wearing a labcoat cut between Aj's Sandshrew and its Nidorina opponent and start loudly shouting something at the crowd of people. Amy couldn't make out everything he was saying from her distance and with how frantically the man was talking, but pretty much the whole crowd was giving him exhausted or irritable looks. She was absolutely sure she heard him scream something about robots though, which definitely peaked her interest.

"Who's that guy?" Amy asked her waiter, who was just staring at the man with the labcoat with an odd mix of embarrassment and amusement.

"Oh, that's just Seymour" The Waiter replied, shaking his head and chuckling lightly "He's a scientist, really interested in studying Clefairy. He's a nice guy, but also kinda eccentric, a lot of people around here consider him… kind of a wacko. I wouldn't worry too much about him, he probably got spooked by something and thinks aliens are invading again…"

"Not that that's never happened" Amy said casually.

The waiter scratched his head "Yes, but we're not in Hoenn, so…"

Amy frowned thoughtfully at Seymour the babbling scientist for a moment. She quickly finished her tea and set the cup down.

"I'll be back in a minute, I want to ask him something" Amy told her waiter, quickly jumping to her feet and running up to Seymour, who was flailing his arms around and still screaming wildly. She cleared her throat loudly to get his attention, introducing herself after he abruptly went silent "Hi there. My name is Amy Rose. Is there a problem here?"

"Amy… Rose…?" Seymour the scruffy looking scientist said slowly, adjusting his glasses and staring intently at the Mobian teenager. A look of euphoria soon dawned on his face, and he dropped suddenly to his knees and threw his hands onto Amy's shoulders, frightening her slightly "Oh my gosh! You're Amy Rose, of the Knothole Freedom Fighters! This is PERFECT!"

The gathered townsfolk all started whispering to one another and staring curiously at Amy. Miss Rose herself just giggled awkwardly from the attention, and struggled to look Seymour in his sparkling eyes "Uh… yeah, I am. Wow… I can't believe you recognised me…"

Amy was never exactly an unknown, but compared to Sonic, Sally or some of the other Freedom Fighters like Tails and Bunny she had never been one of the most famous of the group outside of Knothole and Johto, even though she'd been involved in most of Sonic's big adventures in some way. She'd been surprised that only five people had actually recognised her on her travels through Kanto so far actually, not counting Seymour here, especially since while she had run into several other Mobians here or there they didn't appear to be a common enough sight in Northern or eastern Kanto that she expected to casually blend into the local populace.

The look on Seymour's face made it seem like he would have a hard time believing that though.

"Of course I recognised you. I'm a big fan of you guys, you're all amazing! The way you and Big the Cat tore apart that slot machine robot last year was magnificent!" Seymour said in a reverent tone that Amy had to blush at.

"Hehe, yeah, well… Big did most of the tearing, I just smashed the buttons" Amy said, trying hard to sound modest. She shook her head and gave Seymour an imploring look "So… what's got you so worked up?"

Seymour blinked rapidly, removing his right hand from Amy's shoulder and smacking his head with it "Right-right, of course! It's a good thing you're hear, Mt Moon is under siege!"

"From what?" Amy asked, even though she was already certain of the answer.

Aj the trainer cut off whatever Seymour's reply was going to be, rolling his eyes as he spoke "Ol' tall tales Seymour here was just blatherin' about how robots like the ones that Dr Eggman guy makes were mucking about the forests near Mt Moon, and we should call in the G-men or somebody to fight 'em. The guy probably got hit by a falling boulder again and was hallucinating, like the time he claimed the Clefairy were preparing some sort of heist with a spaceship, so just ignore 'im. Everyone knows that freak never shows his moustached face here in Kanto"

Aj seemed quite sure of himself in that assessment, and while the exasperated looks the rest of the townsfolk had been giving Seymour earlier suggested they were all initially in the same boat, the curious stares most of them were now fixing Amy seemed to imply they were quickly changing their minds. Amy noticed Seymour himself seemed rather hurt by the accusations Aj was making, so offered him a sympathetic smile.

"Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that" Amy said knowingly "After all, a lot of Eggman's wayward robots have gone rogue and ended up in weirder places before… anything's possible"

Aj's eyebrows rose at that, and he looked away sheepishly and kicked the ground. The rest of the townsfolk started muttering to themselves in hushed, concerned tones. Amy smiled awkwardly, hoping they all didn't question her cover story.

She may not have agreed with the League having kept the possible Eggman presence under wraps for so long, but she was responsible enough to accept that she had to keep quiet about the likely severity of the situation until the official announcement was made and not stir up a panic.

Seymour looked positively vindicated by her words.

"You really believe me then?" Seymour asked, already tearing up slightly. Amy shrugged playfully.

"Only one way to find out. Just a sec" She told Seymour. She quickly ran back to the table outside the café and pulled out a large wad of pokedollars which she handed to the waiter who had been serving her "Here, this should pay for the cake and tea"

Amy quickly started skipping back towards Seymour. The waiter stared at the large wad of money in his hand in utter bewilderment, anxiously calling after Amy "Madam, wait! This is way too much!"

"Keep the change as a tip!" Amy called back, waving her hand towards the waiter briefly. The Waiter stared after her in disbelief, looking very guilty about accepting such a large amount of money out of nowhere… but only for a moment.

"Well, alright then" He said gingerly, tucking the wad of cash into the left pocket of his vest.

Amy smiled expectantly at Seymour the scientist, crossing her hands behind her back.

"So… think you can lead me to where you saw these robots? I'd like to investigate" Amy inquired. The look Seymour gave her reminded her of the faces Cream and Charmy had made when she and her friends had dressed Big up as Santa Claus last Christmas.

"Yes, yes of course! Follow me!" Seymour declared, grabbing Amy's hand and whisking her away towards Route 4, dancing and prancing along as he went. Much to Amy's discomfort as she struggled not to trip up or be flung around by the overenthusiastic scientist.

Aj watched them leave with a curious look on his face. When he and his opponent eventually resumed their battle the crowd barely paid any attention to it anymore, now more curious about whether Seymour the so called wacko's stories were all more plausible than they'd all given them credit for.


End file.
